William stafford traveling through the dark

Q: What is the meaning of traveling through the dark by William Stafford?

Death and Morality Traveling through the Dark” is a poem about coming face to face with death. The speaker is faced with a no-win situation, understanding that moving the dead does body out of the road will potentially save other drivers, but also that doing so will kill her unborn fawn.

Q: What kind of poem is traveling through the dark?

Traveling through the Dark by William Stafford is a five-stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines, known as quatrains. This remains true throughout the entire poem until the final stanza, which has two lines, making it a couplet. The poem is written in free verse.

Traveling through the dark I found a deer

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What is the meaning of traveling through the dark by William Stafford?
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What does my only swerving mean in traveling through the dark?

dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.

It is usually best to roll them into the canyon:

that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.

By glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car

and stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing;

she had stiffened already, almost cold.

I dragged her off; she was large in the belly.

My fingers touching her side brought me the reason—

her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,

alive, still, never to be born.

Beside that mountain road I hesitated.

The car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights;

under the hood purred the steady engine.

I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red;

around our group I could hear the wilderness listen.

I thought hard for us all—my only swerving—,

then pushed her over the edge into the river.

By William E. Stafford

Traveling through the dark I found a deer
dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.
It is usually best to roll them into the canyon:
that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.

By glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car
and stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing;
she had stiffened already, almost cold.
I dragged her off; she was large in the belly.

My fingers touching her side brought me the reason—
her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,
alive, still, never to be born.
Beside that mountain road I hesitated.

The car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights;
under the hood purred the steady engine.
I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red;
around our group I could hear the wilderness listen.

I thought hard for us all—my only swerving—,
then pushed her over the edge into the river.

William Stafford, “Traveling through the Dark” from The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 1998 by William Stafford. Reprinted by permission of Graywolf Press, St. Paul, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

Source: The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems (Graywolf Press, 1998)

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Poet Bio

Born in Kansas, Stafford lived with other conscientious objectors in work camps in Arkansas and California during the 1940's. He taught at Lewis and Clark College, Manchester College, and San Jose State College (now University). He also served as U.S. Information Agency lecturer in Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, and held Oregon’s Poet Laureate position from 1975-93. Stafford was a prolific writer and authored numerous books of nonfiction and poetry as well as edited several collections of poetry and prose and contributed to translations and anthologies. See More By This Poet

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What is the meaning of traveling through the dark by William Stafford?

Death and Morality “Traveling through the Dark” is a poem about coming face to face with death. The speaker is faced with a no-win situation, understanding that moving the dead doe's body out of the road will potentially save other drivers, but also that doing so will kill her unborn fawn.

What is the central idea of Travelling through the dark?

The main theme of this poem is that man cannot do anything against nature because nature is so powerful and beyond humans' imagination. Here in this poem, the action develops stanza by stanza. In the first stanza, the speaker finds a dead doe on the edge of Wilson River road while driving at night time.

What kind of poem is traveling through the dark?

'Traveling through the Dark' by William Stafford is a five-stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines, known as quatrains. This remains true throughout the entire poem until the final stanza, which has two lines, making it a couplet. The poem is written in free verse.

What does my only swerving mean in traveling through the dark?

The speaker thinks hard about life and death, about mortality. The word "swerving" echoes the "swerve" in stanza 1 ("to swerve might make more dead"), emphasizing the importance of staying on the road, on the right course. Our speaker really wants us to stay on that road.