Travelling Through the Dark

“Travelling Through the Dark” is a short poem composed by William Stafford. The poem
is about making decision between two realities of life:  1. Intellectual efficiency and
responsibility 2.  Emotional and Sentimental reaction.

 Both the faculties are said to be equally real and thus, the poem presents dilemma we face in life
while making decision.
Responsibility is dry and unglamorous virtue whereas emotion is warmer than responsibility,
also another virtue valued to be some whereas ignored by some others. The poet has tried to
present the idea that decision made on the basis of responsibility and efficiency is always the
best and practical whereas emotional or sentimental decision is impractical which shows human
weakness.

The poem also deals about the  matter of  relationship between the nature and human beings and
their activities. Because of our own activities, we are over exploiting the nature and travelling
towards the dark future  through dark roads.

Textual Paraphrase

The poem has been written in the first person narrative. While the poet is travelling alone
through the dark he sees a dead deer on the edge of Wilson river road. He stops his car and
moves back to see the deer. He later knows that it is a doe and has an unborn fawn in its belly.
Now he shows sympathy to the doe. This is one system of life. In one system he has sympathy
to the dead doe and in the next system: he feels his responsibility that he has to clear the road
throwing the dead doe in the gorges. When the speaker touches the dead doe, he finds that the
doe is pregnant and her fawn is waiting inside her womb. The fawn is alive. Though it is alive, it
will never be born. He feels his mistake and feels pity on the fawn and becomes sad. He realizes
the fate of the fawn inside the dead doe. He now finds a contrast between the doe and his car. His
car looks life – life where as the doe is cold and stiff. The poet is in dilemma. He thinks different
possible course of actions. The physical action ceases at this point and is replaced by the mental
action. He starts thinking about the suitable way out. He finds himself in conflict between the
practical and the sentimental decision. At last, the speaker pushes the doe into the gorges and
solves the problem. The great tension of the dead doe and the living but never to be born fawn is
now solved. On the other hand there are efficiency and responsibility and on the other hand there
are emotions warmer than efficiency and responsibility and deeper than good judgment. In this
way the poem gives full justice to both sides of the tension.    

Interpretation

The poem as implied from the title lands its meaning on the nature  of human judgment making
process and shows clearly that human judges to live for own self and is selfish in totality. Only
in the good situations, does the human being think about others or feels bad others and likes
to support, share and extend humanitarian attitude but when the time to decide comes, i.e.
inconvenient situation demanding final struggle for survival, all emotional and feeling oriented
thoughts die without indications and he/ she behaves rudely upon the others to manage to live.
This has been true in the context of natural world, wildlife and environment too. The self
living interest has sped up the travelling through the dark activities which are no other than our
ambitious development plans and actions which are not carried out with clarity but without
certain future. In this way, humans are merely thinking of justifying for their survival because
we have learnt to do so keeping the notion that humans must survive no matter at the cost of
others or our natural heritage.

Conclusion

In sum, it is deductible that the justice maintained in the poem is human being’s circumstance
that has been a self invited phenomenon. And so, travelling through the dark is his own created
task which is sure to encounter unpleasant incidents like killing a mother whose baby is waiting
but never to be born. In this way, all of us whoever are engaged in the development activities are
called travelers of the dark.