Use Of Imagery In William Stafford's Poem 'Traveling Through The Dark'

William Stafford uses contrasting imagery in his poem “Traveling Through the Dark” in order to paint a realistic image of the reactions that one goes through after a death. The speaker describes the scene as dark, needing to use the “glow of the tail-light” to go to the deer (line 5). When people experience death, they often need someone or something to help them get through things at first; the car’s tail light act as his guide so he can face the death. With the light as his guide, he saw the doe “had stiffened already, almost cold,” which describes the beginning emotions of coping with a death (7). He notes a sudden shift when he realized “her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting / alive, still, never to be born” (10-11). He finds