What is the difference between literal meaning and figurative...

What is the difference between literal meaning and figurative meaning of a poem? I find that sometimes they are similar. For example what is the literal and figurative meaning in the poem "Acquainted With the Night" by Robert Frost?

Acquainted with the Night

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BY ROBERT FROST
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, 

But not to call me back or say good-bye; 
And further still at an unearthly height, 
One luminary clock against the sky 

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. 
I have been one acquainted with the night.