What Is The Mood Of The Poem Traveling Through The Dark

In the poem, “Traveling through the Dark,” William Stafford tells a short, disheartening story that poses a simple question and supplies us with the answer; as humans, do we always choose the easy way out? It’s a casual, conversational poem that is combined with a great story, but it presents a much deeper thought than what lies on the surface. Its form consists of neat, four-line stanzas and while the words may not rhyme, they share the same sounds and upon reading the poem you can see the similarities. In the first line, Stafford writes “Traveling through the dark I found a deer / dead on the edge of the Wilson River road” (ll. 1-2). The poem goes on to tell us that it’s usually best to just roll them into the canyon, “that road is narrow;

The poem quickly takes a turn and we see the true contrast at hand, “her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting, / alive, still, never to be born” (ll. 10-11). While Stafford doesn’t choose to write if all dead deer that are found on Wilson River road are doe’s each carrying an unborn fawn, the question remains the same; do we always choose the quickest way out of difficult situations? The beginning of the poem gives all the insight needed; roll them into the canyon. In this line, tied in with where he writes “I thought hard for us all- my only swerving-“ (line 17), he is painting the picture of the struggle and ultimately what our speaker chooses to do. As if all of the surrounding elements of the forest patiently wait for his decision, Stafford quickly confirms the outcome as our speaker does what all those before him have seemingly done. In the end of the poem, while our speaker does momentarily hesitate, “[I] then pushed her over the edge into the river.” (line 18). With this final line, the poem has ended. Even though we do not know the outcome of every deer that is killed along this road, is there still any chance for the opposite