In "Acquainted with the Night," the surrounding environment is personified in various ways to reflect the speaker's desire for human connection. In lines 1 and 14, the speaker declares that they are "acquainted with the night." The word "acquainted" is often used to refer to a connection between one individual and another, as people might be "acquainted" with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends. Here, the speaker is "acquainted" with the night, which makes the night itself seem to be a person. However, the night does not represent real human connection, but rather the speaker's connection to despair, sorrow, and isolation. The personification indicates that the speaker is connected to something—but that something turns out be, put simply, nothing.
The city the speaker walks through is also personified. In line 4, the speaker looks into "the saddest city lane." This particular city street is thus personified as having emotions of sorrow, which reflect the speaker's own inner sorrow. Nature, too, is personified in a manner that reflects the speaker's feelings. In lines 12 and 13, the moon, which is described through the metaphor of a "luminary clock," "proclaim[s] the time [is] neither wrong nor right." Although the moon, through personification, becomes a figure that communicates with the speaker, the connection between the moon and the speaker is not a comforting one. The moon's message provides the speaker with no certainty or direction.
Overall, the personification throughout the poem suggests that the speaker desires human connection so strongly that this desire influences the way the speaker views the world—the speaker is seeking a person, so everything looks like a person. However, no matter how the surroundings are personified, this personification ultimately provides no real connection or comfort for the speaker, highlighting just how isolated the speaker really is.