Robert Frost had a fascination towards loneliness and isolation and thus expressed these ideas in his poems through metaphors. The majority of the characters in Frost’s poems are isolated in one way or another. In some poems, such as “Acquainted with the Night” and “Mending Wall,” the speakers are lonely and isolated from their societies. On other occasions, Frost suggests that isolation can be avoided by interaction with other members of society, for example in “The Tuft of Flowers,” where the poem changes from a speaker all alone, to realizing that people are all connected in some way or another. In Robert Frost’s poems “Acquainted with the Night,” “Mending Wall,” and “The Tuft of Flowers,” the themes insinuate the idea of loneliness …show more content…
The speaker refers to the night as his acquaintance. This implies that the speaker has a lot of experience with the night, but has not become friends with it. Thus, because even the night, which has been alongside the speaker in comparison to anything or anyone else, is not a companion to the speaker, the idea of loneliness is enhanced. In addition, “rain” (2) is used to symbolize the speaker’s feelings of gloom and grief, because there is continuous pouring of the rain, which is unlikely to stop. In line 3, “city light” is used to convey the emotional distance between the speaker and society. Although the speaker has walked extensively, he has not yet interacted with anyone – thus distancing himself even further from society. Moreover, the moon, in lines 11 to 12, is used as a metaphor of the speaker’s feelings. The speaker feels extremely distant from society that he feels “unearthly.” The idea of isolation and loneliness in this poem is used as the theme of the poem; and the use of the setting and metaphors underscores the idea that the speaker feels abandoned from society.
Similar to “Acquainted with the Night,” isolation is a major theme in “Mending Wall.” In “Mending Wall,” there are two characters: the speaker and the neighbor. The two characters have two different opinions on what make a “good neighbor.” The neighbor views walls as a crucial object in
Frost uses metaphors in “Acquainted with the Night” to express the darkness and loneliness that are familiar feelings for those that suffer with depression. Though the entire poem can be interpreted as a metaphor for depression, Frost uses individual words and phrases as metaphors as well. In the
In Robert Frost’s poem, “Acquainted with the Night”, there is a sense of melancholic loneliness of which the speaker seems to be content with. The reader sees a glimpse of his perpetual depression on a habitual night time walk. He starts by saying he is “one acquainted with the night” (line 1). He feels a sort of companionship with this time of day. Ironically enough, while most everyone else is asleep and quiet, he feels a sense of belonging. The speaker personifies the city through parallels of his own lonely depression.
The Mending Wall, a poem written by Robert Frost, outlines the human instinct of placing boundaries and the necessity of them. He does so using a scenario in which two neighbors go through great lengths to maintain a fence between their homes. They barely associate themselves with one another, and they rarely see each other except for when they are repairing the fence that keeps them separated. I feel that I am able to connect with this piece especially well because throughout my life I have held similar metaphorical walls around myself. Thus, this piece identifies a major part of my nature
The poem “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost discusses the ideas of physical and emotional isolation. The first stanza suggests that the narrator is not only alone and shrouded in darkness, but also isolated and walking in the rain. The narrator illustrates literal physical and emotional isolation as he or she passes “by the watchman on his beat,” and drops his or her eyes, thus avoiding all contact with the watchman (Frost 5). This explains the narrator does not want to come in contact with anyone. The speaker heads out at night because “nighttime is a period of feeling total isolation” (Monahan).
In his poem The Tuft of Flowers, Robert Frost tells the story of a lonely man who is turning grass in a field after a mower has cut it down. Though the man at first believes he is completely alone and that all other people are too, he later reevaluates that position, concluding the opposite- that connections exist between everyone and everything and that nobody is ever alone. Frost argues that one is never truly alone as all people are connected to each other. Initially, the speaker in the poem feels lonely and unconnected to the world around him, “I must be, as he had been, — alone,” (ln 8).
“Good fences makes good neighbors,” is a small portion from the Mending Wall written by one of modern times most proficient writers, Robert Frost. Two of the critical articles I examined were quite helpful in gaining a better understanding of the “Mending Wall” and also of Robert Frost’s poetry. The Gale Research shows the best and most effective understanding of the “Mending Wall,” mainly because it deals specifically with that poem. It basically states that the poem is built around two attitudes, that of the speaker, which the Gale critic presumes is the poet, who is imaginative and an independent thinker and that of the neighbor, who prefers not to question anything (Gale). The other article deals more with other poetry that Robert
In Robert Frost's “Acquainted with the Night” it portrayed a life that was brimming with despair caused by isolation. Maybe because Frost was suffering with his own personal accounts, and he is known to have had a very depressing life, because he had so many close relatives that has passed and it left him feeling lonely and detached. Robert Frost exemplifies how familiar he is with the nights bringing a dark and lonely feeling. He is very aware of the night and he has a very particular way of describing the setting, various symbols, and an exceptional way to develop this poem. This poem uses symbols such as the rain, the darkness and quietness of the night, the watchman, and the moon to show how depressed he was because he was so isolated.
Unearthing the true meaning of Robert Frost’s Mending Wall requires adherence to the ending adage: “Never judge a book by its cover.” This mindset prevents the apparent simplicity of the poem from misleading the reader. Considering the speaker’s lack of perception and ironic self-contradiction, the possible underestimation of his neighbor’s reasoning, and the ambiguous attitude Frost himself conveys suggest the audience should conscientiously avoid accepting the poem at face value. Despite the alluring temptation to accept the persona’s apparent hatred of walls, Mending Wall intricately presents two contradicting opinions regarding man’s necessity for barriers. The paradoxical nature of the poem lies in the fact that both view prove true. The neighbor realizes man simply cannot coexist peacefully without the limitations of boundaries regulating interaction. The speaker voices mankind’s inherent detestation of the restraints imposed by walls and the satisfaction derived from their destruction. Frost leaves the argument deliberately unsettled to acknowledge the coexistence of these views. As a result, the juxtaposition creates the ironic disparity between the poem’s apparently straightforward meaning and the subtler understanding that neither view prevails in reality. (Barry, 110).
In addition to this each poet describes a different response to isolation, Frost depicts an individual who is comfortable being isolated and makes the most of the situation which he finds himself in whereas Thomas depicts an individual who no longer wants to be isolated from others. In Man and Dog the line, “I’ll get no shakedown with that bedfellow from farmers”, the man cuts himself off from others, he chooses his isolation. In contrast to this in AOMWN the litote, “A light he was to no one but himself” implies that it is not by choice that the man chooses to be isolated, but rather through his inability to communicate to others. In addition to this in Man and Dog a “leaf-coloured robin watched”, the visual imagery shows how the man is close to nature, he makes the best of his isolation and is
In Robert Frost’s “Birches” and “Mending Wall”, Robert Frost uses personification, metaphor and alliteration to express his subtle and complex emotions of hopelessness and lonesomeness. For example, in “Birches” Frost describes the trees “seem[ing] not to break; though once they are bowed/So low for long, they never right themselves”(15-16). The personification of the trees perfectly describes the emotions of hopelessness and how hopeless persons feel. Once they feel like they failed and are at their low, they believe that there is no hope and that they will never be able to “right themselves.” In addition to feeling hopeless in life, Frost also states that “life is too much like a pathless wood/Where your face burns and tickles with the
Linea 1-3: The night is his only companion, the rain represents sadness. Out walking the furthest city light is all about having no where to turn and walking without having a determined path
In Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall”, he illustrates barriers as linking people through, communication, friendship and the sense of security people gain from those barriers. His messages are utilized through systems, for example, symbolism, structure, and humor, uncovering a complex side of the poem and, in addition, accomplishing a general carefree impact. In Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” a tightly woven intricate balance of literal and metaphorical meaning is portrayed through themes of isolation, mirroring of social boundaries, use of imagery, eloquent allegorical comparisons and a consistent tone.
Frost used a distinct way of writing throughout his poem that not only hooked the reader into the story, but also made them question their own views of walls, both physical and psychological. In the poem it is displayed that walls can be both good and bad. The wall that the narrator sees as the embodiment of what separates them, it is actually the one thing that brings them together every spring. Near the end, the narrator brings back the original question, what is the something? With this poem, maybe Frost wanted the reader to examine themselves and their surroundings and try to answer the question of tradition, and how they unite us and separates us at the same time. The narrator’s neighbor is the personification of the old ways and custom in the poem, it is evident as he is constantly repeating “good fences make good neighbors” (Frost 245) and the fact that “he will not go behind his father’s saying” (Frost 246). Even though, good fences make good neighbors is a well-known proverb, people will eventually ask themselves: Why is it necessary to have fences to build good
Many of Robert Frost poems, such as Birches, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Mending Wall, and many others all display alienation. Robert Frost loved writing poem about nature and urban areas as well. In most of these poems Robert Frost portrays alienation, this could be, because he himself experienced alienation. Alienation means to feel like you're lonely, it is not literally being alone. You can be in a crowded of hundreds of people and still feel alone, or left out. We all experience Alienation at some point in time during our lives. Alienation can be just a small thing like being picked last in a game of kickball, or being left out of a secret. There is a theme of alienation in Robert Frost’s poems, there are three things or
In the poem “Acquainted with the night” by Robert frost is written while he’s in a state of loneliness looking for someone to help. In line 4 “I have looked down the saddest city lane”. He’ talking about how its physically lonely, the ally is sad looking. This is tying into my reason of loneliness.