The document analyzes the poem "Acquainted with the Night" by Robert Frost. It discusses the imagery, diction, and symbols used in the poem. For imagery, it examines the visual imagery of walking alone at night, the auditory imagery of hearing a distant cry, and kinesthetic imagery of movement. The analysis finds that the diction conveys the speaker's loneliness and isolation. Symbols like the night and rain represent the struggles in the speaker's life. Through these intrinsic elements, the poem depicts the speaker's experience with depression and feeling disconnected from the world.

1. INTRINSIC ELEMENTS
ANALYSIS: IMAGERY, DICTION,
AND SYMBOL IN
“ACQUAINTED WITH THE
NIGHT” BY ROBERT FROST
BY BERLIANA AYU

2. ABSTRACT
In this writing, the writer aims to analyze the
poem “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost.
The purpose of this writing is to determine the
intrinsic elements of the poem which will focus on
imagery, diction, and symbol theories. The method
used for this writing is close reading. In this poem,
the dominant imagery is visual imagery,
loneliness, and diction. The true meaning of the
poem that Frost wanted to tell is psychological
condition of human being.
Keywords: Intrinsic, imagery, symbol, figurative,
meaning.

3. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
According to Laurence Perrine in Sounds and
Sense (1969:3), “Poetry might be defined as a
kind of language that says more and says it more
intensely than does ordinary language”. From the
definition above the writer conclude that poetry
analysis is to find out the real meaning of poet’s
intention in writing a poem and so the readers can
experience the meaning behind the poem. The
writer chooses the poem Acquainted with the
Night by Robert Frost to be analyzed. The poem
mainly contains imagery, diction and symbol.

4. 1.2 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is:
To appreciate the poem of Robert Frost, Acquainted with the
Night.
To analyze the imagery in Robert Frost’s Acquainted with the
Night.
To analyze the diction in Robert Frost’s Acquainted with the
Night.
To analyze the symbol in Robert Frost’s Acquainted with the
Night.
1.3 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study is to analyze the intrinsic
elements in Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost. The
writer will analyze imagery, diction, and symbol in this
poem. The types of imagery that the writer will be focused
on are visual imagery, auditory imagery, and kinesthetic
imagery. Second, the writer will discuss the diction. Last,
the writer will also discuss the symbol on the poem.

5. THE POET, THE POEM, AND THE
TRANSLATION
2.1 Biography of the Poet
Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874, in
San Francisco, where his father, William Prescott
Frost Jr., and his mother, Isabelle Moodie, had
moved from Pennsylvania shortly after marrying. He
became interested in reading and writing poetry
during his high school years in Lawrence, enrolled
at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire,
in 1892, and later at Harvard University in Boston,
though he never earned a formal college degree. By
the 1920s, he was the most celebrated poet in
America. Frost served as U.S. Poet Laureate from
1958 to 1959. Robert Frost lived and taught for
many years in Massachusetts and Vermont, and
died in Boston on January 29, 1963.

6. 2.2. The Poem
Acquainted with the Night
(1928)
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,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

7. 2.3 Translation of the Poem
Mengenal Sang Malam
Aku telah mengenal sang malam.
Aku telah berjalan melalui hujan — dan kembali pada hujan.
Aku telah mengangkat kaki melebihi lampu kota paling jauh.
Aku telah melihat jalanan kota yang paling menyedihkan.
Aku telah melalui si penjaga dengan tugasnya
Dan mataku melihat kebawah, enggan menjelaskan.
Aku berdiri diam dan menghentikan langkahku.
Ketika hisakan tangis pilu terdengar dari jauh
Mendatangi rumah-rumah dari jalan lain,
Tetapi tidak memanggilku kembali ataupun mengucapkan selamat tinggal;
Dan masih menggantung nun jauh,
Sebuah arloji bersinar di angkasa
Menunjukkan sang waktu tidaklah salah maupun benar.
Aku telah mengenal sang malam.

8. LITERARY REVIEW
3.1 Intrinsic Element
3.1.1 Imagery
Laurence Perrine explains in Sounds and Sense
(1969:54), “Imagery may be defined as the representation
through language of sense experience.” In The New Princeton
Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (1993: 560) Alex
Preminger states seven kinds of imagery,“Psychologists have
identified seven kinds of mental images: visual (sight, then
brightness, clarity, color, and motion), auditory (hearing),
olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch, then
temperature, texture), organic (awarenessof heartbeat, pulse,
breathing, digestion), and kinesthetic (awareness of muscle
tension and movement)”. Through this poem, the writer wants
to analyze the visual imagery, auditory imagery, and kinesthetic
imagery.
3.1.1.1 Visual Imagery

9. 3.1.1.2 Auditory Imagery
Auditory imagery is the impression and the
image obtained through the sense of hearing.
3.1.1.3 Kinesthetic Imagery
Kinesthetic imagery is a representation of actions and
movements.
3.1.2 Diction
Diction is the use of words or the choice of words that
an author makes and uses in order to convey particular
meaning in literary work.
3.1.3 Symbol
A symbol, then, is an image so loaded with
significance that it is not simply literal, and it does not
simply stand for something else; it is both itself and
something else that it richly suggests, a kind of
manifestation of something too complex or too elusive to
be otherwise revealed. (Michael Meyer, The Bedford

10. DISCUSSION
4.1 Imagery
4.1.1 Visual Imagery
I have been one acquainted with the night.(Stanza 1, line 1)
This line creates an image of how the author walks in the dark of the night alone.
I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.(Stanza 1, line 2)
Walked out in rain- back in rain, this line evokes the image of walking all alone in the rainy cold
night.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.(Stanza 1, line 3)
The furthest city light, in this line the author wants the reader to see how dark and quiet it is
since the author walked away not only to a far place but furthest place which means he
walked to a place without trace of light, the darkest, without city lights that are usually
bright and beautiful.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.(Stanza 2, line 4)
This line suggests a visual imagery as it indicates that the author wants the readers to have a
picture of how awful the scenery is as the author walks alone in the dark of the night and

11. I have passed by the watchman on his beat (Stanza 2, line 5)
The watchman on his beat evokes us to see there was the watchman who was on his
duty walked pass the author.
One luminary clock against the sky (Stanza 4, line 12)
This line evokes to imagine how one luminary clock than can be assumed as a moon,
shines bright throughout the night in the night sky, gives the author a dim light in the
dark of the night.
4.1.2 Auditory Imagery
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
(Stanza 3, line 7-9)
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
(Stanza 4, line 10)
In this line, sound of feet can be heard by our sense of hearing so it’s an
auditory imagery. The author stopped his movement of stepping sound and stands
completely frozen. An interrupted cry voice can be caught by our sense of hearing
and the words can be mean as a loud crying sound so the readers can imagine
hearing a loud crying voice comes from afar. The interrupted cry is so loud that it can
be heard over houses from another street. The word call and say can be identified as
auditory imagery because we hear someone when they call us and say something to
us. The author is interested with the interrupted cry but only to find out that it’s neither
crying out for him nor yelling a good bye.

12. 4.1.3 Kinesthetic Imagery
I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
(Stanza 1, line 2-3)
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
(Stanza 2, line 4-6)
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
(Stanza 3, line 7)
In line 2, the author makes a motion as he walked out in rain and
back again in rain showing how confused and lonely he is to just walk in
and out in the rain. The third line of the first stanza, the author gives us a
vision of the author’s movement, walks out from the city and wanders
around to an unknown place until the city light is far enough for eyes to
see. In stanza 2, line 4, the author indicates a movement of the eye to
look down, move his head down a little to take a look at the condition of
what’s beneath him. Then in the next line, the author makes a movement
to pass the watchman. In the sixth line of the second stanza, after the
author passed the watchman, he moves his eyeballs down to avoid eye
contact or with the watchman because he doesn’t want to explain
anything. In the third stanza line seven, the author stands still frozen and
stops his feet movement abruptly.

13. 4.2 Diction
(Stanza 1)
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.
In the first line, acquainted is used instead of familiar or aware.
Acquainted used when we meet someone but we are not in close
relationship with them. Thus, the author chooses the word acquainted
because somehow he knows the night but he doesn’t express if he likes it,
either if he dislikes it. In the second line, the author purposely repeats in rain
twice to show author’s desperation and depression. For the next line,
outwalked can means walk father than (anyone else). The author walks
beyond the city until city light is unseen describing he is distancing himself
from the society but he only find darkness everywhere he sees, failed to find
comfort.
(Stanza 2)
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
In the fourth line of the 2nd stanza, the word saddest is chosen
because the author already feels distance with the city and the people. In
the next line, the author passed the watchman on his duty because he feels
the watchman is just as cold and distant as everything else. In the sixth line
we found out that the author doesn’t want to make any contact, afraid he

14. (Stanza 3)
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
In the seventh line, the author choose the sound of feet
instead of the sound of my feet as it means the author doesn’t
acknowledge the feet as a part of him since he is isolated from
everything. The author uses the word interrupted because the cry
comes from houses and it’s unclear for the author to hear. From this
stanza, we can feel the author’s desperation from the choices of
words as he thought to stop his movement to hear a voice.
(Stanza 4)
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
In this stanza, the 10th line is connected with the previous
stanza. The author makes an effort to stop to hear a cry that calls
out for him yet it isn’t, indirectly tells us he is upset that the cry is not
for him. In the 11th and 12th line, unearthly and luminary clock are
used by the author to compare the moon to a clock that shines in
the sky, shine that can be the author’s hope but it’s the most distant
from everything and unreachable, just as sad as the author who
feels so distant from others.

15. (Stanza 5)
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
In this stanza, the author uses personification the moon as a clock
proclaims the time was neither wrong nor right to point out that the time
“night” can’t be blamed for it’s the only thing that accompany the author.
The author chooses to put the first line in the last line to show us once
again how loneliness and depression lingers the author.
4.3 Symbol
I have been one acquainted with the night.( Stanza 1, line 1)
Night may symbolize peacefulness. However, night in this poem
symbolize depression. Night is dark and quiet can be seen as the
characteristics of depression. The author walks in the night shows his
struggle with depression.
I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.(Stanza 1, line 2)
Rain symbolizes the struggle the author facing in life. He escapes from a
struggle but soon he experiences another struggle again.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.(Stanza 1, line 3)
Furthest is the most distant in degree, time, or space. Furthest is used to
describe abstract sense and greater distance than physical distance.
Thus, it is a symbol of loneliness, not solitude. The author feels he is
excluded not only from people and city but also the nature.

16. CONCLUSION
Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost is depicted as
depression and sorrow. It tells about how the author feels depress and
disconnected from anything that exists in life. Robert Frost has suffered
from a lot of loss and grief in his life. His parents and sister’s death, his
wife and children’s death, also depression that attacked his mother, his
sister, and his wife basically made him also suffered from depression.
Throughout the poem, we can see Robert’s struggle with depression
and loneliness. He doesn’t have anyone but the night that he happens
to meet, night which means depression. He spends the night walking by
himself not with someone else. He feels distant with the city, the
watchman, the moon and even with his own feet. He begins to hear a
cry and unconsciously hoping the cry calls for him. In the end, he is still
depress and lonely, and still spend the night by his own.
The horrific scenery and distance that he suffers is described by
using imagery, diction, and symbol. Diction shows his loneliness and
depression throughout this life because everyone he loved was gone,
leaving him alone and depressed, thus he feels isolated from his
surroundings. Imagery adds how he spends his life alone, walking
straight to the furthest place at night, hear a cry and secretly hopes it is
for him but it is not, even refuse to make a contact with the watchman.
He uses several symbols to represent his feelings.

17. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brogan, T. V. F. 1994. The New Princeton Handbook Of Poetic Terms.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Epps, Preston H. 1967. The Poetics of Aristotle. Chapel Hill, North
Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.
Frost, Robert. 1928. West-Running Brook. New York: Henry Holt and
Company.
Meyer, M. 1990. The Bedford Introduction to Literature second edition.
New York: St. Martin's Press.
Perrine, Laurence. 1969. 3th ed.Sound and Sense: An Introduction to
Poetry. United States of America: Harcourt College Pub.
Poets.org. Robert Frost. Accessed at December 1st, 2016 from
Poets.org:https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/robert-frost
Smith, Stan. 1990. W.B Yeats: A Critical Introduction. United States of
America: Rowman& Littlefield.
Thrall, William Flint, and Addison Hibbard. 1960. A Handbook To
Literature. New York: Odyssey Press.