Robert Frost’s poems “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and
“Acquainted with the Night” seem to be ordinary poems at first glance, but
after an in depth look at these works and how they relate, they become much
more. Frost seemed to keep a tone of mystery throughout each of these poems,
never actually telling the reader exactly what was going on. By the same token,
the poems gave off sense of darkness and gloom just adding to the mystery of
what lies ahead. Neither of the characters in these poems seem to be very happy
which also augments the gloomy mood of these poems. The characters in these
poems also appear to be on some kind of journey, but are reluctant to go ahead
and find out what fate has planned for them. A sense of obligation is also
present in these poems, an obligation which must be fulfilled, whether the
character likes it or not. More easily seen is the mystery in each of these
poems. Frost keeps the reader in suspense by never telling the reader what
exactly is going on, but just touches on what might be going on. And to make
things even more mysterious, he gives you hints, and leaves the reader with a
lot to think about in these poems. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening,” Frost exhibits this fairly clearly when his character mentions in
the first line of the poem “Whose woods these are I think I know/His house is
in the village, though;/He will not see me stopping here.” These first three
lines set a mood of dishonesty, as if the character is not supposed to be there,
but it’s all right for now because the owner doesn’t know he’s there. This
little hint pops a question in your mind, “What exactly is this guy doing?,”
hence the mystery. Frost once again sets the mood for mystery in “Acquainted
with the Night,” by making known the presence of authority when his character
states, “I have passed by the watchman on his beat/And dropped my eyes
unwilling to explain.” The character seems to be feeling guilty, or afraid of
the authority figure and drops his eyes to the watchman because of this. But why
would he feel guilty or afraid? Again, a mysterious hint. Also projected by
these poems is a sense of darkness, which goes hand in hand with the mystery in
these poems. The titles of these poems alone suggest darkness. Let me ask you
one question; what time of day is the most mysterious? Of course the
“Evening” or “Night” is the most mysterious time of day. But Frost does
not stop here in emphasizing darkness in these poems. “The darkest evening of
the year.” This selection from “Stopping by Woods in a Snowy Evening,”
amplifies even more the sense of darkness in these poems. Why is this evening
“the darkest of the year?” Night is night no doubt. But what makes this
evening so dark? Is it so dark because the cloud cover from the snowfall is
blocking out the moon and stars, desecrating the available light? If this is
true, then how could there be enough light to “watch his woods fill up with
snow,” to see that there is “[no] farmhouse near,” or that “the woods
are lovely, dark and deep?” Maybe it is not that the evening is dark in the
sense of night versus day, but maybe it is a personification of how the
character feels. Perhaps the character has hit a low point in their life and
this is why the character describes the night as “The darkest,” i.e. the
lowest or saddest, “evening of the year.” From “Acquainted with the
Night,” Frost’s character mentions, “I have outwalked the furthest city
light.” When the character states that he have “outwalked the furthest city
light” it projects a very strong and large sense of darkness. During the
night, the brightest light may be from a city, and to “outwalk” this strong
light, the character must walk very far, hence, “furthest.” Immediately
after this line, the character says “I have looked down the saddest city
lane.” This line seems to be a metaphor of the fact that the character knows
how it feels after he has gone away from this strong light. It is like the
saying “I’ve been down that road before.” The character is left with the
feeling of sadness and nothingness, because of the darkness. In both of these
poems the darkness adds to the mystery, but it also parallels how the
characters’ feel. Exactly, why do the characters feel so dark and sad? What is
so glum? In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the character states
that “The woods are lovely, dark and deep/But I have promises to keep.” This
shows that the character would love to stay, but he must go. It seems that this
character is reluctant to leave the peaceful and beautiful woods to fulfill some
dispiriting obligation. In “Acquainted with the Night,” the character
describes how he feels about what he is doing his task, “I have walked out in
rain—and back in rain.” The saying, “rain on my parade,” helps to
describe how the character feels. Rain is the feeling of pessimism and despair.
This character feels despondent from the minute he departs to do what he has to
do, “out in rain,” and feels no better, if not worse when returns “back in
rain.” Frost emphasizes the gloom felt by the character very well with the,
“—and back in rain,” part of the line. It seems he is trying to say, it is
bad enough to have to walk there in rain, but even worse to have to walk back in
the rain also. Another excerpt from this poem shows that the character is
reluctant to go and do what he has to do… “When far away an interrupted
cry/Came over houses from another street, /But not to call me back or say
good-bye.” It seems like the character is looking for something to give him an
excuse to turn back, and the “cry” might have been just what he had been
looking for, but it did not affect his journey in any way, “…not to call me
back or say good-bye.” Another factor present in each of these poems is that
time will bring a change for the good. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening,” the character states that “The woods are lovely, dark and deep/But
I have promises to keep.” This statement shows that the character would like
to stay, but it is time continue with his journey and do what he has to do. The
last two lines of this poem are repeated. They are as follows: “And miles to
go before I sleep/And miles to go before I sleep.” The first time this line is
stated it can be taken almost literally. It means that his journey is far from
over, but eventually he will be able to rest. When the line is repeated, its
hidden meaning is easier to uncover. It means that for now, he must keep on
doing what he is doing, but eventually, all this will end and he will find his
peace. It’s like the saying, “Hard work pays off.” In “Acquainted with
the Night,” the lines, “And further still at an unearthly height, /One
luminary clock against the sky/Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor
right,” use the moon in a very interesting way. The moon is light, but it is
also a clock. Light is the opposite of dark, i.e. good is the opposite of bad.
This symbolizes that the good is on its way but its just a matter of time, but
for now, the character must continue with his task. In both poems Frost projects
an image of dark sadness, apparently about what each of the characters must do
in order to fulfill his obligations. The characters do not want to do these
things, but he has no choice. Then, the symbolism in the poems show the happy
ending.