Poetry Project

“Meeting at Night”
And
“Acquainted With the Night”
 Meeting at Night
The grey sea and the long black land;  Written in iambic form (blank
And the yellow half-moon large and low; verse)
And the startled little waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,  Uses a lot of imagery
As I gain the cove with pushing prow, 
“Paints a Picture in your Head”
And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.
 Why?
Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match,
And a voice less loud, thro' its joys and
fears,
Than the two hearts beating each to each!
 “Why?”
Everything the speaker talks about in the
poem are very minute details. While
most would notice something, even as
simple as “the quick sharp scratch” of
a match being lit, the speaker does.
Why? The author is saying that when
one is in love, everything is beautiful.
Everything from “the yellow moon” to
“the blue spurt of a lighted match” is
noticed and is beautiful.
The grey sea and the long black land;
And the yellow half-moon large and low;
And the startled little waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.
Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match,
And a voice less loud, thro' its joys and
fears,
Than the two hearts beating each to each!
Also, the speaker suggests that they are going to meet a lover, in secrecy. The
speaker seems almost hurried to see their secret lover, suggested by some of
the bigger things noticed, such as the “yellow moon” and the waves. It isn't until
the very end, when the speak is with their lover that they start to notice the really
minute details, such as the match being struck.
 Acquainted With the Night
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
 Iambic Pentameter
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

 English Sonnet
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.  Written in stanzas not
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet usually seen in sonnets
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,  A few different
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
interpretations
O luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.
 Depression

Line one suggests he is familiar with
feelings of depression (the night)
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Line two could suggest that the speaker has I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
been through depression before, because I have outwalked the furthest city light.
rain sometime symbolizes sadness or
depression I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat

The third line suggests that the speaker has And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
gone past all hope to come out of said
depression I have stood still and stopped the sound of
feet
 Looking down the “saddest city lane” When far away an interrupted cry
would suggest the speaker is recalling a Came over houses from another street,
time when their depression was
particularly strong But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
 The fifth and sixth line would mean that
O luminary clock against the sky
the speaker couldn't explain his feelings to
someone who wanted to help them. Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
 The third stanza suggests the speaker being I have been one acquainted with the night.
alone, the far interrupted cry would also
suggest someone trying to help him, but
failed.

Throughout the poem the language used
suggests his emotional and mental distance
from the rest of the world, especially in the
eighth and ninth line, where the moon
(luminary clock) seems so far away

The last line, a repetition of the first one,
also suggests the cyclical nature of
depression. When one comes out of it, one
can easily fall back into it.

However, depression isn't the only
interpretation of this poem.
I have been one 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 or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
 Adultery

In this interpretation, the first line would
suggest that the speaker is familiar with
I have been one acquainted with the night.
some immoral (dark, night) thing, in this
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
case, adultery works.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

The unwillingness to explain to the
watchman would mean that the speaker isn't I have looked down the saddest city lane.
willing to explain his reasons for having an I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
affair

The “far away an interrupted cry” in this I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
case would mean the leaving of their When far away an interrupted cry
mistress, or prostitute. Came over houses from another street,


This also explains the tenth line. Because But not to call me back or say good-bye;
the affair is kept secret, the adulteress And further still at an unearthly height,
would not call the speaker back, and not say O luminary clock against the sky
good-bye because they will meet again.
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor

The repetition of the last line would mean right.
that the affair is on-going, and the speaker I have been one acquainted with the night.
has done it multiple times, either with one
or multiple people.
 Pregnancy

In this interpretation, the first line would be
a metaphor being familiar with the inability I have been one acquainted with the night.
to become pregnant. I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

Rain is sometimes used to represent
pregnancy, which would explain the second I have looked down the saddest city lane.
line, in which the speaker has tried many I have passed by the watchman on his beat
times to get pregnant, but can't. And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

It would also explain the fifth and sixth
I have stood still and stopped the sound of
lines, because the speaker cannot explain
feet
why she is not pregnant.
When far away an interrupted cry

The fourth line, looking down the saddest Came over houses from another street,
city lane, could be symbolic of the speaker
recalling her past, the miscarriages, maybe But not to call me back or say good-bye;
a still-born. And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky

This could be plausible, because the
language is very gender-neutral, and the Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
author (Rober Frost) had a wife who could I have been one acquainted with the night.
not get pregnant.
 Comparing the two poems
 While both poems are  They are both written in
about the night, they iambic form
represent very different  However, the first one
things. One is about two is written in blank
lovers meeting at night, verse, and the second is
while the other, a sonnet.
whichever
interpretation you
choose, is about a
melancholy subject.