Robert Frost's poems "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "Acquainted with the Night" seem to be ordinary poems at first glance, but after an in depth look at these works and how they relate, they become much more. Frost seemed to keep a tone of mystery throughout each of these poems, never actually telling the reader exactly what was going on. By the same token, the poems gave off sense of darkness and gloom just adding to the mystery of what lies ahead. Neither of the characters in these poems seem to be very happy which also augments the gloomy mood of these poems. The characters in these poems also appear to be on some kind of journey, but are reluctant to go ahead and find out what fate has planned for them. A sense of obligation is also present in these poems, an obligation which must be fulfilled, whether the character likes it or not.

More easily seen is the mystery in each of these poems. Frost keeps the reader in suspense by never telling the reader what exactly is going on, but just touches on what might be going on. And to make things even more mysterious, he gives you hints, and leaves the read

Exactly, why do the characters feel so dark and sad? What is so glum? In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the character states that "The woods are lovely, dark and deep/But I have promises to keep." This shows that the character would love to stay, but he must go. It seems that this character is reluctant to leave the peaceful and beautiful woods to fulfill some dispiriting obligation. In "Acquainted with the Night," the character describes how he feels about what he is doing his task, "I have walked out in rain-and back in rain." The saying, "rain on my parade," helps to describe how the character feels. Rain is the feeling of pessimism and despair. This character feels despondent from the minute he departs to do what he has to do, "out in rain," and feels no better, if not worse when returns "back in rain." Frost emphasizes the gloom felt by the character very well with the, "-and back in rain," part of the line. It seems he is trying to say, it is bad enough to have to walk there in rain, but even worse to have to walk back in the rain also. Another excerpt from this poem shows that the character is reluctant to go and do what he has to do... "When far away an interrupted cry/Came over houses from another street, /But not to call me back or say good-bye." It seems like the character is looking for something to give him an excuse to turn back, and the "cry" might have been just what he had been looking for, but it did not affect his journey in any way, "...not to call me back or say good-bye."

Also projected by these poems is a sense of darkness, which goes hand in hand with the mystery in these poems. The titles of these poems alone suggest darkness. Let me ask you one question; what time of day is the most mysterious? Of course the "Evening" or "Night" is the most mysterious time of day. But Frost does not stop here in emphasizing darkness in these poems. "The darkest evening of the year." This selection from "Stopping by Woods in a Snowy Evening," amplifies even more the sense of darkness in these poems. Why is this evening "the darkest of the year?" Night is night

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Approximate Word count = 1424
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)