I need help understanding the meaning behind this poem....

Acquainted with the night - by Robert Frost

I have been acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman 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 to say good-by;
And further still at an unhearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Almost a sonnet, but not quite, huh? Four three's and a two, rhyming aba, bcb, etc. Reminds of the interwoven scheme in Stopping by Woods.

I would try using different words for the meaning of 'night' and go from there, loneliness, for example. What are other common metaphors for night? Evil, death, ignorance ... many more, I am sure. Pick the one that makes the most sense to you personally, then work your way through it to see what falls into place.

Acquainted with the Night is about loneliness. In the third/fourth stanza, we can see the persona wishing that he had some human contact. We can feel his hopes raise that someone is calling him or running towards him and then emphasise with him as these hopes are dashed.
The reference to the clock and the time being "neither wrong nor right" symbolises the feeling of not being able to escape the loneliness, of being trapped in a cycle.
It might be important to look at the origins of loneliness..do outside forces/people play such an important role or is it a state that exists exclusively within himself....

the poem "Acquainted with the night"
When and why he says
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain

when he says
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right

and know the coming darkness of my death. . .

Good advice here.

The watchman bit is the narrator being unwilling to volunteer what he was doing there - the watchman would have the right to check that anyone out at night was not a burglar or other miscreant, and most people would volunteer an explanation of why they were out at that time, when they met a watchman.

I have read somewhere, and I think in one of the threads of this forum, that it is about sex. What can a man do in the middle of the night for which he is ashamed? Whores? Male friends? And of course, that would be related to loneliness too.

And further still at an unhearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Farhad, the clock he refers to might be the stars, but more than likely he refers to a town clock, common in many cities, which revealed that he was out an unreasonable hour.


Les

Perhaps the clock showed the correct time, but it was not the right time for what he had in mind or wanted to happen or his time had not come?

I see it as he's just "out" because he has no where else to go

My sister thinks it's about insomnia, and specifically about Frost's insomnia during his documented stay in London. She also thinks the clock is the one on the Parliament Tower (often called "Big Ben" though that's a mistake: Big Ben is the name of the bell IN the tower). Some people think the "clock" means the moon.

I vote for the clock meaning the moon. As marian2 said, he's feeling guilty while passing the watchman- think of how you might feel walking by a police officer in the night.

pam

I have read somewhere, ... that it is about sex.

It was a humor post by Bob Sloan, also known as the Edjucaided Redneck:

[tinyurl.com] />
Bob Sloan:

[www.bobsloansampler.com]

more than 3 years ago and thanks to you I'm mentally maimed for life! Will never be able to read this poem without that explanation in my mind. Sigh.

:-)

I am currently analyzing this poem for a research paper and have found all the comments on this discussion very helpful. There is a notion the poem echoes an Old Testament image, from Isaiah 53:3: "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief."

Any further comments would really help.
Thanks!