The American poet William Stafford published "Traveling through the Dark" in 1962. While driving on a narrow road at night, the poem's speaker finds a dead deer and decides to move the body so that it won't cause other drivers to dangerously swerve out of the way. Upon dragging the deer toward a canyon, however, the speaker discovers that she was pregnant at the time of her death—and that her fawn is still alive inside her womb. Deciding that the fawn is doomed no matter what, the speaker only hesitates for a moment before pushing the doe off the road and into the river below. Through this unsettling incident, the poem highlights the destructive impact that human technology can have on the natural world, while also exploring the idea of moral responsibility and the choices people make when confronted with death. The poem is based on a real incident in Stafford's life.

• Read the full text of “Traveling through the Dark”

• “Traveling through the Dark” Summary

• “Traveling through the Dark” Themes

  • 

    Death and Morality

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-18
  • 

    Humanity vs. Nature

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-8
    • Lines 13-18

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Traveling through the Dark”

  • Lines 1-4

    Traveling through the ...
    ... make more dead.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    By glow of ...
    ... in the belly.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    My fingers touching ...
    ... road I hesitated.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    The car aimed ...
    ... the wilderness listen.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-18

    I thought hard ...
    ... into the river.

    

    

    

    

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• “Traveling through the Dark” Symbols

  • 

    The Car

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “By glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car”
    • Lines 13-15: “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;”

• “Traveling through the Dark” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “dark”
    • Lines 1-2: “deer / dead”
    • Line 2: “River road”
    • Line 3: “roll”
    • Line 4: “might make more”
    • Line 5: “stumbled”
    • Line 6: “stood”
    • Line 7: “stiffened,” “already, almost”
    • Line 10: “was warm,” “waiting”
    • Lines 11-12: “be born. / Beside”
    • Line 13: “lowered,” “lights”
    • Line 14: “steady”
    • Line 15: “stood”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Traveling through,” “dark,” “found,” “deer”
    • Line 2: “dead,” “River road”
    • Line 3: “roll”
    • Line 4: “road,” “narrow,” “swerve,” “might make more”
    • Line 5: “glow,” “tail-light,” “stumbled back,” “car”
    • Line 6: “stood,” “doe,” “recent,” “killing”
    • Line 7: “stiffened,” “already, almost,” “cold”
    • Line 8: “dragged”
    • Line 10: “was warm,” “waiting”
    • Line 11: “alive, still”
    • Lines 11-12: “be born. / Beside”
    • Line 13: “lowered,” “parking,” “lights”
    • Line 14: “under,” “hood,” “purred,” “steady”
    • Line 15: “stood,” “glare,” “exhaust,” “turning”
    • Lines 15-16: “red; / around our group”
    • Line 16: “wilderness,” “listen”
    • Line 17: “us,” “all,” “only,” “swerving”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Traveling through the dark I found a deer / dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.”
    • Line 4: “that road is narrow”
    • Line 5: “By glow of the tail-light”
    • Line 7: “she had stiffened already, almost cold”
    • Line 8: “she was large in the belly.”
    • Line 10: “her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,”
    • Lines 13-16: “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.”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “she had stiffened already, almost cold.”
    • Line 10: “her side was warm”
    • Lines 13-16: “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.”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “dead,” “edge”
    • Line 4: “road,” “narrow”
    • Line 6: “heap,” “recent,” “killing”
    • Line 7: “stiffened,” “already,” “almost cold”
    • Line 9: “me,” “reason”
    • Line 10: “lay,” “waiting”
    • Line 14: “under,” “hood,” “purred,” “steady engine”
    • Line 15: “stood”
    • Line 16: “around our,” “wilderness listen”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “narrow; to”
    • Line 6: “heap, a,” “doe, a”
    • Line 7: “already, almost”
    • Line 8: “off; she”
    • Line 10: “warm; her”
    • Line 11: “alive, still,” “, never”
    • Line 17: “all—my”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-18

• “Traveling through the Dark” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Canyon
  • Tail-Light
  • Heap
  • Doe
  • Fawn
  • Purred
  • (Location in poem: Line 3: “It is usually best to roll them into the canyon”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Traveling through the Dark”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Traveling through the Dark” Speaker

• “Traveling through the Dark” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Traveling through the Dark”

• More “Traveling through the Dark” Resources

  • External Resources

    • More About Stafford — To learn more about William Stafford, check out this brief overview of his life and work.

    • Wilson River Highway — To better imagine the setting of the poem, take a look at this Google Maps image of Wilson River Highway, where the poem takes place.

    • The Paris Review Interview — Read an interview with Stafford as part of the magazine's "The Art of Poetry" series in 1993.

    • The Stafford Archives — You can explore the digital version of the William Stafford Archives, which are housed at the library of Lewis & Clark College.

    • The Poem's Inspiration — Listen to William Stafford read and talk about the inspiration for "Traveling through the Dark." 

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