The poem uses four four-line stanzas and a concluding two-line verse. It is a narrative description of the speaker’s actions during the darkness. There are no regular rhyme schemes and it’s irregular in meter. But Stafford seemed to be playing with rhymes by using near rhymes like “road” and “dead”; “killing” and “belly”; “waiting” and “hesitated”; “engine” and “listen”; “swerving” and “river.” Stafford may be doing this so the poem doesn’t have a definite structure, giving it a more relaxed feeling when reading it. The poem seems to be set in a conversation style, where the speaker is talking out loud, reliving the event that occurred that night.
To illustrate the theme of death, Stafford presents a metaphor relating the literal road to the road of life. In the first stanza, the road is described as being narrow and is called the "Wilson River road.” Also, the reader gets the sense that the road is dark and isolated. The only lit section of this road is the stretch that the speaker is travelling on. Symbolically, this represents the speaker’s current life. The road that has already been traveled symbolizes his past. The speaker may be unable to see his past because of the darkness. He also literally can’t see farther ahead, only as far as the headlights will allow, because of the darkness. This symbolizes how the future in our lives is yet to be discovered. Stafford’s symbolic description of the road is comparable to a man’s trip along the path of life. In this poem though, Stafford reveals conflicts with stopping along the path of life, not travelling along it. The deceased deer is what forces the speaker to stop along the road, but death in life is what causes humans to stop along their path and take time to make decisions.
Stafford also uses symbolism of the deer, canyon, and river to reinforce his theme. The deer is seen as a roadblock which must be dealt with before the speaker can continue on his trip. He can’t simply push death to the side of the road as the reader sees when he has a hard time making up his mind. But the deer would just decay if it were left there. Instead, as Stafford states in the first stanza, "it is usually best to roll them into the canyon.” Stafford shows the way to deal with this is to discard of it immediately and not to hesitate at all. This may be true for the safety of other cars and people, but symbolically the reader sees it is necessary to deal with this problem so one can continue on their path in life. The canyons with the river at the bottom could symbolically represent a way to wash all our problems away. By just pushing the deer over the edge and not hesitating, one is getting rid of this problem without letting these troubles hold them back.
Another way the decisions made when stopping along the road of life are symbolized is through Stafford’s use of language. The word "swerving" is used twice in the poem. When explaining why the man should move the deer, Stafford writes, "to swerve might make more dead.” This also could symbolically refer to a swerve in judgment. If the speaker makes a swerve in his decision, it has consequences which may cause problems or even death. The second time Stafford uses "swerve," it is more clear that he is referring to judgment. He says, "I thought hard for us all – my only swerving.” Because the deer is pregnant, the man’s decision is extremely difficult, and he hesitates to think. Through this, Stafford illustrates the importance of symbolism and of the moment of hesitation. This is where Stafford is able to develop the character of the speaker, as the reader sees a more compassionate person for the wilderness. In deciding what to do with the deer, Stafford says “Beside that mountain road I hesitated.” The reader expects that the speaker may somehow save the baby. But Stafford surprises the reader with the action of throwing the deer, along with its unborn baby tragically into the canyon. This is his "swerving" which causes death and adds to Stafford’s theme of how choices along the road of life may through curve balls.
During the speaker’s hesitation, Stafford’s personification of the car and wilderness further develop the poem. In the forth stanza, Stafford describes the factors which influence the speaker during his decision. To explain this, Stafford uses personification of the car. It "aimed ahead its lowered parking lights/ under the hood purred the steady engine.” Also, the speaker feels pressured by his car when he says "I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red.” The car doesn’t care about this hard decision that needs to be made; it just wants to keep going. In this way, the car symbolizes our drive in life to get ahead on the road of life. Like the car, the wilderness is personified as well. But, it does not rush the speaker in his decision. Rather it waits as the speaker can "hear the wilderness listen.” Now, he must make his decision, taking into account all factors. This personification adds to the poem, and illustrates how we are all influenced in good and bad ways in making our decisions.
As the title seems to suggest, I think this poem is about life. The dark tone in the poem is our future, which we can’t see. The deer did not "see" the car it got hit by. This is just as humans do not know or see the future and get "hit by cars" all the time. Events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina were two events where we were caught off guard and didn’t know this was ever going to be in our future. This is the “swerving” Stafford shows to all of us. I also think this poem shows human’s ignorance for nature; seeing as the pregnant deer was killed and just left in the road like that. The speaker in the poem seems to be a more sympathetic person for nature as I saw in the way he touches the deer’s side. His ultimate decision to push the deer into the river is a decision he felt he needed to make not just for himself but for all of mankind when he says “I thought hard for us all.” I would have made the same decision as him, because it was the best one overall, even though I am at heart an animal lover. I was attracted to this poem because as I read it I realized how it related to an event that recently happened to me. I had a deer hit by a car which then sped away, right in front of my house. It was a doe and we think she was pregnant as well. I liked this poem because I could relate to and knew what the speaker was feeling when he saw this deer. Like the speaker’s case, it was hard for me to watch and know that there was a baby alive inside the doe but nothing could be done to save it. At last I saw how and agree with Stafford’s point of view on human’s poor relationship with nature. He points this out by using the car to reveal how advances in technology are hurting and even destroying our wilderness.
Through his explanation and description throughout the poem, Stafford creates the image of the road of life and illustrates how the decisions we make are all connected and have consequences. The images the reader sees are not out of the ordinary, which makes the setting real, allowing the reader to believe that this decision may one day happen to them. "Traveling through the Dark" reveals the difficulty in life and in dealing with problems that occur as one proceeds along the path of life. The biggest roadblock that can occur along this path is death, which must be properly dealt with, as Stafford proves. In just a few lines the poem is able make the reader think hard and wonder what they would do. Is it fair to say that technology and the growth of humankind are more important than preserving wildlife? It is a dark road we travel, hoping to make good decisions that will lead us on the right path.
“Traveling through the Dark”
By: William 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.