September 11, 2003 (I was 58)
Acquainted With The Night
Note from Jay Parini,
Robert Frost: A Life, Henry Holt 1999, p. 246
Acquainted With The Night: “The
poem was, Frost later
suggested, ‘written for the
tune.’ Although a sonnet by
form, with a closing
couplet, the poem has the fluid
repetitive aspect of a
villanelle with the three line stanzas
mimicking the terza rima of
Danté –appropriate for a
poem about the descent into
darkness.”
I always read the poem to students
mimicking the voice
of Bela Lugosi in
Dracula. It puts an appropriate
spin to
the narration. The movie and the poem are of a common
era. The poem is circa 1927 and the film was
released in
the U.S. on Jan. 1,
1930. When I discovered the voice
for
my interpretation, I wished
the poem came after the movie,
hoping Frost too, had heard
the voice and realized how
well it fit. (JK)
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