The poems “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark” by Emily Dickinson
and “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost depict a depressed-and many
depressed peoples situation through using the metaphor of darkness. Though they
share this common theme, they have two very different tones, because while
Dickson’s writing craft makes us feel like we are in this situation together,
Frost’s craft makes us feel like we are outsiders on the situation.
The
two poems have to very different tones. “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark” speaks
through the “we” voice, making us feel like humanity in general goes through
this emotion. It makes you feel like you are a part of something, that you’re
not alone, that we’re all in it together. However, “Acquainted With the Night”
has a whole different voice, coming from the “I” perspective. This makes us
feel like we are an outsider, that we aren’t part of what is going on, but
rather listening to what is happening to somebody else. For the speaker, “When far away an interrupted cry/ Came
over houses from another street/But not to call me back or say good-bye.” He/she
feels alone in what she/he is going through. They are not asking for somebody
to come rescue them-they have already passed by the watchman on his beat/ And
dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. It gives a very different, more exclusive quality to the poem
than “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark”.
Both
of these poems use imagery well. Emily Dickinson uses the metaphor of lightness
and darkness to show depression. When “The light is put away,” “We step
uncertain for the newness of the night.” This leads to the conclusion that it
first it may be strange and unknown for us when we are first experiencing
depression. We won’t know how to
navigate. If we’re brave we may even “…grope a little- and sometimes hit a
tree.” It may be scary not knowing what the path ahead of us looks like.
Imagery Robert Frost uses captures a speaker who has already experienced
depression, and seems to feel just done with everything, not caring or
believing in getting out of it, if they even ever hoped to. This is somebody
who has "Walked out in the rain and back/outwalked the furthest city
light." Imagery in these poems helps the reader better understand things
about the speaker(s). Dickinson's use of imagery helps us see a group of
people-or mankind really who are new to this experience and are figuring things
out for themselves, trying to face the problem. They are able to see hope,
however small it is. However, Frosts use of imagery shows us someone who has
been completely removed from the idea of hope.
These two poems also have very
good structure, yet they are both different. In Emily Dickinson’s poem, her use
of stanzas move us along through different times. From “When light is put away” and “To witness
her Goodbye” to “ Adjusts itself to midnight” makes us think about the time
when we are getting used to the situation-or facing it. Additionally, this poem
uses dashes, which makes up stop in the middle of the sentence. It gives of the
feeling of unsteadiness- the speaker is fumbling around in the dark. In
“Acquainted With the Night” the words “I have” are used in almost every
sentence, followed by some aspect of the speaker’s life. This eludes to how
long this person has gone through this and how completely experienced and worn out
he is.
Overall, in the poems "We Grow Accustomed to the Dark" by Emily Dickinson and "Acquainted With the Night" by Robert Frost, the aspects point of view, structure and imagery move the poem along greatly. These aspects make us aware of things about the speaker of the poem and what is going on in their life.
