I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street
Unwilling to explain what? The speaker won’t tell us. The idea of the poet as a keeper of secrets, or a withholder of answers from unworthy seekers, is a recurring one in Frost’s work. Compare this passage near the end of “Directive”: 
 I have kept hidden in the instep arch Of an old cedar at the waterside A broken drinking goblet like the Grail Under a spell so the wrong ones can’t find it, So can’t get saved, as Saint Mark says they mustn’t . 
 In addition, the watchman seems to be portrayed as an ominous figure, as the narrator “dropped [his] eyes” instead of looking directly at the watchman. Rather than meeting a comforting figure, the first person the narrator mentions seems menacing. Also, the narrator is “unwilling to explain,” implying that the narrator could be hiding something. A person walking alone at night could be seen as suspicious; to the watchman the narrator could be a thief or murderer. However, a reason that the narrator would be “unwilling to explain” is that he doesn’t want to admit to the watchman, and to himself, that he is alone.
Acquainted with the Night