Birdfoot's Grampa Poem

Comparing and Contrasting Poems
The 19th century poet and artist Khalil Gibran once said ‘’For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.’’ The poems “Birdfoot’s Grampa” by Joseph Bruchac and ‘’Traveling Through the Dark’’ by William Stafford, both explore the dilemma of deciding life and death. While both these poems explore the same basic situation, a closer examination reveals differences in thematic interpretation through varied characterization and imagery.
The theme of the two poems focuses on the value of life. In the case of “Birdfoot’s Grampa” the poet believes that animals lives are valued just as much as human lives.This is revealed through the characterization of the old man. ‘’The old man must have stopped
In ‘’Birdfoot’s Grampa’’ it says, ‘’the rain was falling, a mist about his white hair.’’ This shows us that he is old by telling us he has white hair. Also it says, ‘’the small toads blinded by our lights and leaping, live drops of rain.’’ It's telling us that the toads were everywhere and they were hoping everywhere by saying leaping live drops of rain.
In ‘’Traveling Through the Dark, it uses imagery by, ‘’that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.’’ This is saying that it may kill more people if they swerve to the side because, they could go into the canyon. Also, ‘’ she had stiffened already, almost cold,’’ this is saying that she died. ‘’Traveling Through the Dark’’ focuses on life is valuable.’’ ‘’That road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead,’’ here he is talking about the future people who drive down the road and will have to swerve. If they swerve they may go into the canyon because of the road being narrow. Then, they could possibly die or get severely injured. Also, ‘’Then pushed her over the edge into the river.’’ This talks about how he pushed the deer over the edge instead of delivering the fawn or letting the dead mom and the live fawn there. Instead he pushed her over the edge because he didn't want to make it dangerous for other people who would drive through the narrow road in the
This quote explains how the guy in ‘’Traveling Through the Dark’’ takes away the fawn's life. When you take away something’s life you're not just killing them, you're deciding whether they get to live their life and in this case the deer was very young and had a whole life to live. It shouldn’t be an easy decision. The other poem, “Birdfoot’s Grampa” decides to help the animals live and doesn’t kill them. While these poems both have the same general idea and situation, a closer examination reveals differences in conflict and the writers opinions. I would personally have to agree more with Joseph Bruchac the writer of, “Birdfoot’s Grampa” because, he chooses to help the animals live. That's the decision I would choose to make instead of killing the animal and not taking the time to discover any other alternatives. As we have come to see both poems explore the dilemma of deciding life and