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symbolism of traveling through the dark by william b stafford
analzing "traveling through the dark"
symbolism of traveling through the dark by william b stafford
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Poems are very interesting things. They can tell stories, show character, give life to the text, and some of them even have deeper meanings than what’s on the surface. Poems are written in specific ways, the author knows what he or she is doing and there is usually always a reason an author uses the words he or she does. Traveling through the Dark by William E. Stafford is a great example of this because on the surface it may look like just a man finding a deer and then rolling it over the canyon, but what does the poem say with each line or each word? Traveling through the Dark is a poem that could have a few meanings, but the meaning of sacrifice for others and the disregard humans have for nature really stand out. Traveling through the Dark starts off with a very simple and seemingly innocent line, the speaker talks about how he or she has found a deer while traveling through the dark. The line has a sort of calmness to it, a sense of joy even, because the speaker only says that he or she has …show more content…
The speaker knows what must be done and they are contemplating whether they want to leave the doe there for the sake of the fawn, or roll it off into the canyon to save more people’s lives. The author also uses “swerving” in this line in reference to an earlier line in the poem. It’s their only “swerving”, their only hesitation of the situation before they do what needs to be done. Which leads to the last line of the poem, “then pushed her over the edge into the river.” The last line of the poem has the speaker pushing the doe into the canyon, even though the speaker knows that the fawn will die in the process. This could show a few things. It could show that sometimes you need to sacrifice one life for many others, or it could simply be that humans can dictate the life and death of nature with no
The poem's situation is simple, a lone traveler driving along a desolate canyon road spots a felled deer; the traveler, desiring neither to hit the deer, nor by swerving to avoid it, hurtle his car over the canyon precipice, stops his vehicle and proceeds to push the fallen animal over the canyon face, into the river below. As the driver struggles to displace the cold, stiff deer corpse he senses warmth emanating from its abdomen, it's an unborn fawn. Realizing that life remains in the body he had assumed dead, the traveler hesitates. Finally, he pushes the deer, one dead and the other not yet alive, off the road and into the chasm.
Poetry is something that is to be read delicately and cautiously if one wanted to find meaning through the words. Readers have to be gentle and patiently ponder about what they are reading in order to find any significance in the poem. If someone is not patient with reading, they will not feel impacted by poetry and will not want to read it. In Billy Collins’, “Introduction to Poetry,” he uses figurative language to help readers see that the way to enjoy and understand poetry is by reading between the lines and being patient with how each individual relates to the readings.
Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities; it is solely used to evoke emotive feelings in the reader in which to convey a message or story. This form of literature has a long history dating back thousands of years and is considered a literacy art form as it uses forms and conventions to evoke differentiating interpretations of words, though the use of poetic devices. Devices such as assonance, figurative language, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve a musical and memorable aspect to the poem. Poems are usually written based on the past experiences of the poet and are greatly influenced by the writer’s morals values and beliefs. Poetry regularly demonstrates and emphasises on the
O. Henry once said, “The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate.” The poem goes a lot a deeper than the words on the page, the items and decisions within it really make you see things differently. Three symbols really stuck out to me; adolescence, sadness, and timelessness.
Figurative Language in used throughout poems so the reader can develop a further understanding of the text. In “The Journey” the author uses rhythm and metaphors throughout the poem. “...as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of the clouds..”(25-27). The author compares the star burning to finding your voice. Rhythm also develops the theme of the poem because throughout the story rhythm is presented as happy showing growing up and changing for the better is necessary and cheerful. In “The Laughing Heart” the author uses imagery and metaphors to develop the theme throughout the book. “There is a light somewhere. It may not be much light but it beats the darkness”(5-7). Always find the good out of everything, even it
The poems make for a simple addition to the narrative and allows for a much more meaningful experience for a reader and makes for a much more engrossing story, thus adding to the experience as a whole.
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”
In poetry, we can vent our frustration and interpretations of the world around us on paper. Poets make their points using metaphors or little stories to bring them out. When reading poetry, I always put myself in the shoes of the first or third person to better understand what is trying to be put across in the words of the sonnets. Most poems can mean anything to anybody. There are many cases in which you see people finding beauty in things they don't even understand, such as an Italian Opera or Ancient Hieroglyphics painted on a pyramid wall. Poetry can be silly, cheesy, boring or down right appealing and consuming to the readers eyes.
Having read the Maze Runner book before watching the movie, I’ve got to say that it wasn’t what I was expecting. Sure, the movie was entertaining and engaging, with great performances, but it was nowhere near as good as James Dashner’s book! In both the Maze Runner book and the movie, sacrifice was one of the major themes revolving around the story, as Thomas, Alby and Chuck showed their bravery and risked their lives in order to save someone else.
For example, in example of line two, “I walked past a dead face.” She, the author, starts using these words by explaining that she is in a terrible life time, going on hard times in life, by this line at the beginning of the poem; she starts telling the reader that what the poem is all about, it has some kind of sadness ideas.
“In this poem, the night represents his destination — the poet’s own inner life, possibly self-knowledge. The poet, then, feels at least partially alienated from himself in much the same way that the night promotes a feeling of alienation from other people” (Kidd 2). Therefore, the reader can assume this rest of the poem is going to be about the narrator getting to know his place in this world while he is on a night stroll. The second line of stanza one states “I have walked out in rain –and back in rain” (Frost 157). His repetition of going in the rain twice emphasizes his miserable condition on this dark, rainy night. Nonetheless, he embraces nature and continues on with his walk past “the furthest city light” which tells the reader that he is now in complete darkness. Stanza two focuses primarily on his relationship with society. The narrator is casually walking in the city at night and sees the “saddest city lane” and
Poetic devices and connotations help convey the meaning of the poem. For example, the poem has a positive connotation when saying “The courage that my mother had / Went with her, and is still with her still” (1-2) but, towards the end of the poem there is a negative connotation when the speaker says “Oh, if instead she she’d left to me / The thing she took into the grave!-” ( 9-10) This shows that connotations help convey the meaning of regret. The negative connotations help the readers see the regret of not inheriting her mother’s courage. In
Poetry requires more than just a verse. It must appeal to your mind and generate emotion. It should be constructed in a way that appears so simple, yet is intricate in every detail. Dylan Thomas's poem, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night is a brilliant poem that appears so simple, yet upon looking closer it's complexity can be seen.
There have been many interesting and appealing poems written throughout history. One of the most interesting and appealing poems is Robert Frost’s “Out, Out”. The poem has the ability to make the reader visualize an event in vivid detail without making it into a short story. The poem depicts a very dramatic scene and makes it seem as if the reader is really there. Poems are generally thought to be about love and feelings, but some poems can actually be like a short story; these are called narrative poems, which means that they tell a story. The poem “Out, Out” is a great example of a narrative poem, telling the story of a young boy cutting a tree.
Poetry in essence is a written artistic form of expression. It allows for writers to reveal their ideas and feelings in a very unique way. Wallace Stevens once said, “Poetry is a destructive force”. In other words poetry has power, I believe this is a very true statement. Another poet by the name of William Carlos Williams once said, “Poetry is a small (or large) machine made out of words.” I also believe this statement to be true, each aspect of a poem is important to its function as a whole, and if something is missing or changed it can no longer work in the same way. The poet Derek Walcott I believe knew these “rules of poetry” and modeled them in his own writing. For example we can see use of these statements in his poem “A City’s Death By Fire”.