Travelling Through The Dark- William Stafford

Theme:

“Traveling through the Dark” composed by William Stafford presents dual responsibilities of any person has possibility of facing: one self-entered and another community-centered. By the end, he moralizes that one has to make choice between the two, and such choice is also ways self-centered.

Summary:

American poet William Stafford in his poem “Travelling through the Dark” presents the conflicts between physical action and emotion and responsibility to take appropriate course of action even in critical situation. The poet also satires the self proclaimed nature lovers who are responsible for the difficult state of wild animals and environmental degradation.

While driving on the edge of Wilson river road, once the poet saw a dead deer lying on the road. He stopped there to clear the road by pushing the deer off the road into the river as the road wasn’t wide enough. It was difficult to drive past the deer because the car might collide with the possible danger of falling off the road and get killed, the poet observe that the deer has been killed recently which was already stiff and almost cold. While pulling it to the corner of the road for pushing into the river, the poet observes its large belly and realized that the deer was pregnant. Although the body inside was still alive and waiting to be born, it was unlikely to born because its mother had already been dead. The poet was greatly confused in deciding correct of action in that difficult situation.

The lights of the car were on and the engine was making a low continuous sound. The animal with live inside it was lying dead on the road whereas, the lightless car seemed to be alive. Standing by the light of the car, the poet tell as if the tragic seen was being watched silently by wild animals too. He found himself in confusing state to choose appropriate step at this situation. However,accepting the ground reality and thinking seriously for other natural lovers, the poet changed his idea suddenly and pushed the deer into the river making the road free for others. Choosing the easy curse of action,the poet placed himself in the row of self responsible forecological imbalance.

Using irony, the poet expressed that people are totally indifferent (careless) about the plight (sorrow) of wild animals because of their unwise activities. Although they are selfish and cruel towards the animals, they pretended to be nature lovers. The poet criticize this human behavior and satires their pretention as nature lovers who are in reality the source of problems and plight of the natural world.

Questions Answers:

1.  Elaborate the poem in your own words.

William Stafford’s poem “Traveling though the Dark” presents both physical and mental actions. The first stanza begins with physical action but ends with mental action. Traveling through the dark is physical and thinking of rolling into the canyon is mental. In the second stanza, the speaker stumbles back, goes up to her and drags. All these activities are physical. Hence, second stanza is the description of physical actions. Physical actins of the second stanza continue in the third also. The speaker touches the deer’s side and knows about the presence of offspring inside. This physical action leads to mental action; he hesitates after he knows its condition. Not knowing what to do further, he stands in the glare of red in the third stanza. Here too, like in the second stanza, we find physical actions. The fourth stanza presents both actins like the first one. The speaker thinks of returning, but finds it impractical. So, he pushes the deer into the river.

2. Explain the title of the poem. Who are all those driving through the dark?

The title of the poem “Traveling Through the Dark” is very suitable one. People generally travel in the dark when there is some urgency or when they have some immediate destination to reach. So, the speaker of this poem is traveling in the dark with some special purpose. But when he finds a dead doe on the road, he is in dilemma. He is in confusion either to show deep love and emotion to an unborn but alive fawn in the belly of the doe or to save the passengers on his car as a dutiful driver. After much thoughtful meditation, he pushes the dead doe into the river in order to reach his destination and save the passengers. The ‘darkness’ indicates One of nature's beautiful creatures has been killed and pitilessly left on the road, unburied and unmourned to cause future accidents. The driver's inaction suggests moral darkness. The darkness also suggests the narrator's confusion about what to do with the deer. "Traveling through the dark" also symbolizes the spiritual void of humankind in its insensitivity toward nature.

Questions to be discussed:

1. What is the central idea of the poem? [057-3]

2. Show how the action develops stanza by stanza in the poem. [060-3]

3. What does the traveler feel when he touches the dead doe? [ Model -3]

4. Do you agree with what the narrator did ? Why? [063-3]