Darkness entails various reputations such as evil, loneliness, and anguish. Whenever darkness is mentioned there is likely to be no good in the vicinity. “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark”, by Emily Dickinson and “Acquainted with the Night”, by Robert Frost are full of similarities. They both share themes of darkness, but their tones are different. One poem gradually becomes hopeful while the other fills minds with thoughts of despair. The uniqueness of these poems are shown through there tones, structure and point of view.
“Grow Accustomed to the Dark”, by Emily Dickinson is structured as a quatrain. Dickinson employs the word “we” often within this poem; meaning she is referring to a group who has become accustomed to darkness. This could very well be a group of people, or even society. Dickinson is not speaking about darkness being customary to her. She states in the poem, “We grow accustomed to the Dark – When Light is put away—“. At one point there was happiness for this group of people, but once they go through a troubling time they adjust to be able to understand.
This poem transitions from a sad tone to the tone of hopefulness. Dickinson says, “The bravest—grope a little—and sometimes hit a tree directly in the forehead—but as they learn to see”. This is a metaphor meaning although people encounter darkness the brave ones try their hardest to succeed even though they may come across obstacles that cannot surpass. However the last part of the quote says “But they learn to see”, which is a transition from troubled times to hope. “Acquainted with the Night”, by Robert Frost, is similar to Dickinson’s poem, but has its differences.
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This is a lyrical poem that can be considered a sonnet because it has 14 lines. The point of view used is 1st person and “I” is used throughout this poem. Unlike Dickinson, Frost was speaking about his personal experiences in the darkness or night. The two tones in this poem were sadness and loneliness. It did not transition to a hopeful tone like the first poem. Robert Frost seems to be in an everlasting gloom. He says, “I have walked out in rain—and back in rain”. Usually, when you walk back in the rain ceases, but Frost is experiencing despair and sadness that does not withdraw.
Although these two poems differ, they are similar in theme, point of view, and interpretations of darkness. Throughout each poem the main theme was darkness. Dickinson and Frost both interpreted darkness as something sad, full of despair and gloom. In addition, the titles “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark” and “Acquainted with the night” are parallel. Although Dickinson used the word “we” to express darkness for a group, while Frost used “I” to express his personal experience in darkness they both used 1st person point of view.
They are structurally different, and have many different tones; however they both speak with a similar interpretation of the darkness. Both poems were well written and succeeded to capture attention of the audience without distractions in the text. Dickinson’s poem transitioned from sad to more of a hopeful tone. Frost’s stayed stagnant with the recurring despair. Darkness is very significant in each poem because it describes the troubles each group or individual faced. Each poem was unique and had a different style about them because every writer different.
