To be confronted with challenging predicaments is an inevitable part of the human experience. Although each person must make their own individual “journey” through life’s course, there remain universal principles that unite all living beings. William Stafford’s poem “Traveling Through the Dark” reveals that when one is given the space to reflect upon these simultaneously simple yet compelling principles, only then can one see the chain of events that can occur as a result of a single action. It can be said that “Traveling Through the Dark” is a text that examines and reflects upon the balance between life and death, which in turn allows the speaker to argue for the importance of acting with integrity in situations posing moral dilemmas.
In …show more content…
When the word is initially used in line four, one’s first instinct is to interpret it in a literal sense, that to veer or misdirect a vehicle while driving across the “narrow road” will inevitably lead to negative consequences. The couplet at the end of the poem, however, poses the term in the context of the narrator’s actions, where he shares how “[he] thought hard for [them] all – [their] only swerving” (17). It does not make sense for the speaker to be physically “swerving” in this moment, from where they stand assessing the situation while alone on the highway. It becomes clear that the true problem that this person is facing is one of moral integrity in the face of life and death. This is reflected through the fluctuations from one stanza to the next, alternating from death (such as with the doe and the dark of night) to life (represented by the still-living fawn and the car). Amidst these rapid changes and back-and-forth motions, it can be said that the speaker feels that it is his duty to make the “right” decision in the face of adversity, in this liminal state of in-between. Although it is not made clear what the correct course of action was in the context of the poem, this seems to matter less to the speaker than the intention behind the final decision. In the end, the moral path is simply the one that is mindful and reverent of all things, whether light or dark, or alive or dead. By invoking a sense of liminality throughout “Traveling Through the Dark,” poet William Stafford is able to observe the reciprocal relationship between life and death. Through the narration of a specific event in time that deals directly with life’s cyclical nature, the speaker of the text is able to emphasize the importance of taking the appropriate course of action in morally
In …show more content…
When the word is initially used in line four, one’s first instinct is to interpret it in a literal sense, that to veer or misdirect a vehicle while driving across the “narrow road” will inevitably lead to negative consequences. The couplet at the end of the poem, however, poses the term in the context of the narrator’s actions, where he shares how “[he] thought hard for [them] all – [their] only swerving” (17). It does not make sense for the speaker to be physically “swerving” in this moment, from where they stand assessing the situation while alone on the highway. It becomes clear that the true problem that this person is facing is one of moral integrity in the face of life and death. This is reflected through the fluctuations from one stanza to the next, alternating from death (such as with the doe and the dark of night) to life (represented by the still-living fawn and the car). Amidst these rapid changes and back-and-forth motions, it can be said that the speaker feels that it is his duty to make the “right” decision in the face of adversity, in this liminal state of in-between. Although it is not made clear what the correct course of action was in the context of the poem, this seems to matter less to the speaker than the intention behind the final decision. In the end, the moral path is simply the one that is mindful and reverent of all things, whether light or dark, or alive or dead. By invoking a sense of liminality throughout “Traveling Through the Dark,” poet William Stafford is able to observe the reciprocal relationship between life and death. Through the narration of a specific event in time that deals directly with life’s cyclical nature, the speaker of the text is able to emphasize the importance of taking the appropriate course of action in morally