Model Poem: Acquainted with the Night

Supriyono, an English teacher from Malang, East Java, Indonesia, analyzes a model poem entitling Acquainted with the Night narrated by Robert Frost. He mentions that the poem is very suitable for MTs/SMP students because it can develop the students’ awareness about social life.

Acquainted with the Night

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.

I have out walked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watch man on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-by;

And further still at an unearthly height,

One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

                                                                  The Narrator: Robert Frost

The Title	Acquainted with the Night
Type of poem	Model Poem
Paraphrase	The narrator’s isolation and sadness are conveyed in this poem. He reports looking down sad lanes and averting his eyes from those of a night watchman. He stops walking to hear more clearly a distant cry that reaches him from some street away. The cry he hears is not aimed at him. The narrator is not called back or acknowledged with a farewell. He describes a clock against the night sky. It may be literally a clock in a tower or the full moon overhead. But, the clock does not say anything good or bad about the time.
Poetic devices	·   Rhyme  : Terza rhyme (a pattern of interlocking end-rhyme that follows the pattern) → aba aba aba aba aa ·   Rhythm :     Line 1   : I have/ been one/ acquaint/ ed with/ the night                    Five feet /pentameter:                          1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th feet → iambic                         3rd foot → spondaic     Line 2   :  I have/ walked out/ in rain/ – and back/ in rain                    Five feet/pentameter                         1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th feet → iambic                         2nd foot → dactylic     Line 3   :  I have/ out walk/ ed the furth/ est ci/ ty light                    Five feet/pentameter                         1st, 3rd, and 5th feet → iambic                         2nd foot → spondaic                         3rd foot → anapestic     Line 4   :  I have/ look down/ the sad/ dest ci/ ty lane                    Five feet/pentameter                          1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th feet → iambic                         2nd foot → dactylic     Line 5   :  I have/ passed by/ the watch/ man on/ his beat                    Five feet/pentameter                         1st, 3rd, and 5th feet → iambic                         2nd foot → dactylic                         4th foot → trochaic     Line 6   :  And drop/ ped my eyes,/ unwilling/ to ex/ plain                    Five feet/pentameter                         1st and 4rd feet → iambic                         2nd foot → anapestic                         3rd foot → dactylic                         5th foot → trochaic     Line 7   :  I have/ stood still/ and stop/ ped the sound/ of feet                    Five feet / pentameter                         1st, 3rd and 5th feet → iambic                         2nd foot → spondaic                         4th foot → anapestic     Line 8   :  When far/ away an in/ terrupt/ ed cry                    Four feet/tetrameter                         1st, 3rd, and 4th  feet → iambic                         2nd foot → anapestic     Line 9   :  Came over/ houses from/ another/ street                    Four feet / tetrameter                         1st, 2nd, and 3rd feet → dactylic                         4th foot → trochaic     Line 10 :  But not/ to call/ me back/ or say/ good by                    Five feet / pentameter                         1st and 5th feet → trochaic                         2nd, 3rd, and 4th feet → iambic     Line 11 :  And furth/ er still/ at an unearth/ ly height                    Four feet / tetrameter                         1st and 2nd feet → iambic                         3rd and 4th feet → anapestic     Line 12 :  One lu/ mina/ ry clock/ against/ the sky                    Five feet / pentameter                         1st foot → trochaic                         2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th feet → iambic     Line 13 :  Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right                    Five feet / pentameter                         1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th feet → iambic                         2nd foot → anapestic     Line 14 :   I have/ been one/ acquaint/ ed with/ the night                    Five feet /pentameter:                          1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th feet → iambic                         3rd foot → spondaic ·   Alliteration : None ·   Simile : none ·   Metaphor : none ·   Onomatopoeia : None ·   Personification : none ·   Hyperbole : none ·   Oxymoron : none
Kinds of stanza	·   Sonnet because the poem consists of fourteen lines.
Style	·   The use of special present perfect tense to tell the readers that it has just happened.
Poetic diction	·   Allusion : none ·   Parody : none ·   Ambiguity : One luminary clock against the sky (line 12)     It may be literally a clock in a tower or the full moon overhead. ·   Pun : none ·   Paradox : none ·   Irony : none
Content	·  Theme : alienation (a sense of being alone from human relationship and social connection) and depression (a mental condition characterized by loss of interest, lack of energy enthusiasm, a sense of flatness, and disrupted sleep pattern). ·  Tone : alone and depressive ·  Message : We should care of one another in our social life. It can be seen from the suggestion in the poem that the narrator is not only the person who feels disconnected from others. The cry that comes across the lane suggests another person is suffering too, is calling for connection.
Comment	·  The model poem is very suitable for MTs students because it can develop the students’ awareness about social life.