Two Poems and How They Mirror Each Other Essay

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Robert Frost and Edwin Arlington Robinson capture the loneliness and isolation that can come from life in the modern world. In “Acquainted with the Night,” the speaker toys with self-obliteration, drawn to the darkness. He hides his fears and sadness, avoiding all contact with other people even when he passes them by. Similarly, Robinson’s titular Richard Cory struggles with despair and purposelessness to the degree that he does take his own life. Although the setting, tone, and style of their respective poems are different, Frost and Robinson both paint vivid portraits of depression. The speaker of “Acquainted with the Night” and Richard Cory of “Richard Cory” can be read as mirror images of one another, both presenting a face to the world that belies their inner angst.For both Richard Cory and for Frost’s speaker, the light symbolizes the mask people present to the world and the darkness represents one’s inner demons. Frost uses imagery of light and darkness to signify the outward expression of self and the shadow self, respectively. Although Robinson does not use light as a motif, the word “glittered” is used to describe the wealthy Richard Cory. Cory’s wealth, power, and social status are his external self-expressions, the self that Cory presents to the world. His wealth and composure are essentially facades, given that he held deep inside self-hatred strong enough to commit suicide.The speaker of “Acquainted with the Night” deliberately seeks out darkness so that others cannot see who he really is. Like Cory, he does not want the world to see his shadow self, so he hides it as best he can. While the speaker in Frost’s poem lacks the gold, glamor, and “imperially slim” appearance that Richard Cory has (Robinson line 4), he nevertheless does avoid eye contact as he walks.

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The speaker of “Acquainted with the Night” states that he “dropped his eyes, unwilling to explain” why he was wandering past the “furthest city light,” (Frost, line 6; line 3). Because they could not or would not face the truth about themselves, they also could not share their inner selves with…

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…wealth; nor can any motivation to commit suicide be implied by what Frost’s narrator has to say.Cory has a much bigger and more important role to play in his community, but both men are far more isolated than anyone in their respective towns would have believed. Their loneliness and isolation is partly self-imposed, but it may also be due to the peculiarities of life in the modern world. Frost’s narrator notices that the townsfolk do not care that he might be leaving them forever: they cry, but “not to call me back or say good-bye,” (line 10). Likewise, Cory has effectively duped his neighbors into thinking that everything was fine. The lack of intimacy or connection is palpable in both of these poems.Frost’s narrator in “Acquainted with the Night” is a similar figure to Richard Cory in his eponymous poem. These men mirror each other in the sense that their surface appearances are acts they put on for the world. Through motifs of light, darkness, and wandering, Frost and Robinson create a bleak picture of….....

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