Compare and Contrast Author's Craft Poetry Essay

Charlie Muller                                                                                     707     3/27/14

“We Grow Accustomed to the Dark” by Emily Dickinson and “Acquainted With the Night” by Robert Frost are both poems that show depression through author’s craft. In “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark” we learn that depression isn’t always that bad when you have hope. In Frost’s poem we are shown the loneliness of depression when love and a helping hand are not offered. The structure of the poems, imagery, and point of view all show the tone of depression. The tone of depression is shown differently throughout these two poems because of the authors’ craft.

In both poems structure is used to show the tone of depression. In Dickinson’s poem five stanzas help to move us through time. From “...When light is put away-” referring to sunset, to “...Adjusts itself to Midnight-” making us think of the time it takes to get used to our situation or face it. Dashes in the poem make you pause in the middle of a sentence. This gives us the feeling that life is unsteady during depression. In Frost’s poem there is a lot of structure. It is orderly and specific; there are rhyme schemes, which create a feeling of repetition.  Because this poem is so structured it makes us think that the idea of depression is routine for the speaker; it is usual. But, Dickinson’s poem is free verse, which makes us feel that this depression is new to the speaker; it is not usual. This shows that structure can express tone.

In both poems, point of view demonstrates the attitude and the feelings of the speaker. In Dickinson’s poem, the “we” point of view is making us feel included; we are all in this together. “We” stands for humanity. This expresses that we are not alone. This attitude indicates that people can find hope even when things seem difficult. In Frost’s poem, we see the “I” voice being used to describe the depression of the speaker. The poem is talking about the speaker, who is alone in feeling blue. For example, the poem states, “I have been one acquainted with the night.” This shows that the speaker is unaccompanied. It also says “one” showing that the speaker is by itself.  The two poems are very different in this way.

In both poems, imagery is used to suggest the feelings of the speaker. In Dickinson’s poem there are many symbols of hope. The metaphor of sadness as being in the dark, groping and sometimes stumbling and making mistakes makes us think of searching to find our way through the dark. “The newness of night” tells us that darkness, or depression, is new in the speaker’s life, and not routine. In the end, the stanza “Darkness alters - / Or something in the sight/Adjusts itself to Midnight - / And Life steps almost straight” gives us hope that there is a way out of the darkness. In Frost’s poem, the images of light and dark contrast happiness and sadness. When it says, “I have outwalked the furthest city light,” it means he has left behind the last moment of happiness and feels like he can never be happy again. Another instance, the author uses the imagery of night, which is another metaphor for depression and unhappiness for the speaker, because it says “...acquainted with” this shows that the speaker has experienced this “night” or depression.

In summary, in “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark,” we learn that people who are depressed should have hope that they will get better and that people should know they’re not alone. In “Acquainted with the Night” we are shown that some people who are depressed really feel alone and need others to love them. These poems contrast feeling a part of something bigger and feeling abandoned in the world throughout depression. These poets teach us that we always need to feel that we are loved and we belong.