Acquainted with the Night

Robert Frost's "Acquainted with the Night" seems to tell the tale of a speaker who is isolated from society. Many would argue that the speaker is almost a sympathetic character, as their loneliness and isolation invoke feelings of pity in the reader. However, I do not find in myself and sympathy for this character, but rather frustration. It does not seem to me that he is pushed away or shunned by society, as would be the case for many to feel pity for him. Instead, it feels as if the separation is more a choice of his own, rather than an exile. For example, when passing by another person, the speaker admits  "I have passed by the watchman on his boat, And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain." (Frost). In this situation, it is not the other person that alienate the speaker, but rather the speaker who refuses to make communication. Later in the poem, the speaker hears a voice call out, almost as if for help because it was interrupted. However, instead of running towards the sound of human companions, as a person seeking society would do, the speaker merely ignores the sound. He chooses instead to lament on how no one ever calls out to him. This complaining does not make for a sympathetic character, merely an annoying one.