Robert Frost, the author of, "Acquainted With the Night" uses many literary devises to tell the speaker's attitude toward the city and the speaker's current life. Frost uses language such as diction and imagery, details, and metaphors to reveal the speaker's attitude of loneliness and depression. Diction plays a major role in helping the audience, or reader understand the attitude of the speaker. Words such as, "saddest", "unwilling", and "cry" are all words used to describe emotions of loneliness or despair. The speaker obviously has something lingering on his mind that he cannot put behind him. He is weary and upset. The word "night" alone connotes to many other low words, such as, dark, cold, quiet, or alone. The word "rain" symbolizes coldness, and the uncomfortableness that comes along with being wet. Images also play a major role in understanding the attitude of the speaker. The image of the rain falling down when the speaker goes out, and that it is still there when he comes back shows that the speaker can never get away from his problem. The fact that when the speaker stopped walking he also "stopped the sound of feet", meaning that he was the only person around, again leading back to the idea that he is mourning in his state of loneliness. These words and images help to show the speaker's attitude.
There are many details that Frost added to give a person a better understanding of the speaker and his feelings. The idea that the speaker "outwalked the furthest city light" shows that he is out of bed in the middle of the night walking aimlessly trying to get his problem lifted. It shows how disturbed and troubled the speaker is with this