The sonnet ends with a repetition of the first line. The word “night” now has greater significance. In the context of the poem in its entirety, night serves as a symbol for the speaker’s emotional state of isolation, sadness, and despair. His being “acquainted with the night” is both literal and figurative.

Time is meaningless to the speaker; it is neither the wrong time nor the right time for him to do something or to be somewhere. The idea emphasizes his disengagement from society and relationships, supporting the poem’s theme of emotional isolation.

The word “luminary” may be used here as an adjective that means related to or characterized by light, suggesting that the speaker describes an illuminated clock in a clock tower that rises high above the city. However, “luminary” when used as a noun is defined as a celestial body, such as the sun or the moon, that gives light. In this regard, “One luminary clock against the sky” may be interpreted as a metaphor for the moon in the dark sky; the moon’s changing position in the night sky indicates the passage of time, as does a clock.

The speaker walks alone and avoids human contact, but he is aware of others who are not alone and isolated. “Cry” has connotations of distress and the expression of strong emotion; the speaker’s having stopped when he heard someone’s cry seems to suggest that he identifies with the feelings.

The initial “S” sound alliterates in “stood,” “still,” “stopped,” and “sound,” emphasizing each word in the visual and auditory imagery in the line. No longer walking, the speaker “stood still,” creating silence in place of the sound of his own feet walking on the pavement.

The “watchman on his beat” refers to a policeman patrolling his assigned neighborhood on foot. When encountering the policeman, the speaker avoids interaction, unwilling to engage in conversation about himself or why he walks alone at night. The passage illustrates his emotional isolation from human relationships and from society, a theme in the poem.

The repetition of the initial “S” sound in “saddest” and “city” is an example of alliteration. The alliteration draws attention to each word and unites them in the line. Describing the city lane or street as the “saddest” implies that other streets are sad, as well. The speaker’s associating them with sadness suggests his emotional state.

Walking beyond “the furthest city light” reinforces the imagery of darkness suggested by “night” in the poem’s first line. Also, “I have” completes the anaphora in the first stanza, the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. The anaphora is continued in the first two lines of the following stanza. The repetition of “I have” at the beginning of the lines personalizes the speaker’s voice in sharing his experience.

In the phrases “out in rain” and “back in rain,” the repetition of “in rain” is an example of epistrophe, a figure of speech in which one or more words repeat at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. The repetition of “in rain” suggests the rain’s continuing presence during the speaker’s journey to and from an unspecified place.

“Acquainted” means familiar with, suggesting that the speaker has had numerous experiences with the night. Describing himself as “one” who is acquainted with the night indicates that other people are familiar with it, as well. In addition to its literal meaning, “night” has connotations of darkness, loneliness, and despair.