How Does William Stafford Use Figurative Language In Traveling Through The Dark

Everyone has experienced some dilemma when he/she had to choose whether to take responsibility or ignore a situation. William Stafford expressed that impasse in his poem "Traveling Through the Dark." This poem is mainly about the difficulty of choice between a morally right thing to do or the opposite one. Stafford was creative in the use of literary devices and with the use of figurative language he allowed the reader to think deeply of his/her actions, thoughts, and the feelings.

“Traveling Through the Dark" is one of the most famous poems by William Stafford. In brief, it is about a dead deer’s body, which was found on the edge of Wilson River. He got out of the car and walked over to the deer. The poet thought that it was best to roll the body into the canyon. When he dragged her, he found out she was pregnant, and her fawn was still alive inside her but never to be born. After that, an inner conflict started in the poet's mind until he chose to push her into the river and get her out of the road.

The reason for using artistic language methods such as feeling and tone in a poem is to help a reader interpret the inner feelings of

the author. This exactly what Stafford appeared to have done in his poem. He started in a very gloomy and serious tone and s reader could easily sense it when he said “I found a deer dead" (L1-2). The tone changed into rational as the author explained the reasons why the deer needed to be pushed off the road. As Stafford started exploring the situation he was in, the tone of the poem became inquisitive; he said, “My fingers touching her side brought me the reason” (L9). Later, the reader poem has a tone indecision, sympathy, and, at the end, the pain of the decision. Moreover, Stafford utilized vocabulary to help a reader to experience feelings similar to his when reading this poem. He mentioned about the feel of her warm belly when he said in line 10, “Her side was warm." The sensory words allow a reader to imagine touching the animal. Furthermore, the author allows his readers to sense the sounds as in the words, “I could hear the wilderness listen" (L16). The reader wanders and envisions images of the wilderness acting like a person. What could people do at that time? How could they listen to their sense of judgment? Artistic language helps a reader to experience the situation personally.
To aid understanding, the poet employs symbolism in an amazing way.

In line three, “It is usually the best to roll them into the canyon," the author portrays the deer as a responsibility of his and uses rolling her off the road as an action. He illustrates to readers what happens nowadays when people sometimes choose to abandon responsibility instead of facing it. For instance, if they see someone with a problem, they choose to walk away rather than help and share a responsibility. Also, in line 17,"I thought hard for us all," the fact that the narrator is representative of all mankind is exhibited. The speaker represents mankind coming at a swerve in the dark, ignorant of the decisions they must make; he was symbolizing how lost they can be between nature and their modern life and have trouble in their

decision-making.
The way the speaker reports the event, along with arousing choices of words and phrases, forces the reader to be careful to the fact that “Traveling Through the Dark" is meant to manifest the idea of a negative experience of a man and shows that technological advancement may sometimes be harmful to other surroundings. In fact that it was not just a deer but a mother deer who is as precious as a human mother. It is important to say that the author shows nature at its most vulnerable condition, and he justifies his actions as a service to others when he rolls the deer from the road. Thus presents the way of the uncomfortable job to highlight the tensions between a man and nature and their effects on each other.