SAMPLE OF PAPER

COMPARING TWO POEMS

by David B. Axelrod

             "Attempts to Pass," by David B. Axelrod and "Traveling Through the Dark," by William Stafford are similar because both teach us to appreciate each moment of our lives more given how dangerous life can be. "Attempts" presents a person on the eve of a plane trip who is wakeful and worried. He thinks about the noises people hear on a normal flight and recounts a near miss he had while traveling. In "Traveling," a person describes an incident in which he stopped to push a dead dear off a road one night. His intention was to prevent anyone from hitting the carcass and possibly getting killed. He is surprised and saddened to find that the deer was carrying an unborn fawn. Each poem tries not just to caution how accidents are always a threat, but how we should be completely receptive to the sensations we feel at any moment. The act of observing itself may be all the meaning we have in our lives. Just being in the moment is the way to best appreciate the moment.

            If we look at detail each person observes as they have traveled, we can see that we should appreciate each moment. "Attempts" actually makes a detailed list of what one could expect to hear on an airplane "about to land: the thud of wing flaps, suspension of the/ power, the squeal of tires." These are "the tests we put on life." Some people hear a "thud" as their plane approaches an airport and may have be frightened. As likely it is the normal sound of the wheels being lowered and locked into place. Similarly, "the squeal of tires," or a moment when the engines reverse to slow the plane, could scare a passenger. It's even said that there are no atheists on a plane that is experiencing turbulence! Instead of becoming frightened or later phobic about flying, the speaker has made a study of flying. It seems to be that person's way of coping or more so, enjoying the moments while he flies. Given how many things could go wrong on an airplane, the poem instructs us to simply relax, be fully aware and even enjoy the moment.

            "Traveling," similarly, teaches us to console ourselves with the very sensations that come with the moment. When the person has stopped to get the dead deer off the road he feels the moment intensely: "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." He is surrounded by silence and darkness so that the only lights he experiences are a tunnel of headlight and a red "glare" of taillights. The warmth and one could imagine the smell of the "exhaust" permeates the moment. It is at a time like this that one "could hear the wilderness listen." Fixed on the scene, fully sensate to the moment, the person is clearly, intensely alive, even as he confronts the dead animal. Given that he could have run into the deer, or "swerved" off the road and gotten killed, the person seems duly grateful for just being alive. A moment such as the one described heightens the awareness and the importance of life.

            If we look at the direct and conscious realizations of each person in the poems, we can see how the poems, similarly, teach us that all we have--all that we can be sure of and appreciate--is the moment. "Attempts" uses the Stafford poem directly saying "We are travelers in the dark,/ students of some ancient/ fortune-telling art … with illusions of answers/ only." Shakespeare said all life is a stage. Here everyone is on a journey. Even in daylight we are at least metaphorically "in the dark." We can't be sure, beyond sheer faith, if there is a meaning to life. What if religion were an "illusion," or the opiate of the masses? Then all one could really know or enjoy would be the moments one experienced. The poem refers to "studying our lessons carefully as we embark," but perhaps the pleasure comes from the act of studying not the promise of  "answers." The joy is in the journey not even necessarily in the arrival.

               "Traveling" similarly stresses that it is what we feel, experience, do that gives our life a meaning. The person at the roadside, if this were a television melodrama, could send his faithful dog, Lassie, to fetch help. A veterinarian would appear to perform a caesarian section and save the unborn fawn. Ah, but not in real life. The poem says the "wilderness listen[ed]."" and then the person "thought hard for us all … then pushed her over the edge into the river." There is no happy ending to the moment, no miracle that can resuscitate the deer or save the fawn. There is the real fact that a danger has been avoided, in the driver's not "swerving" and getting hurt. By pushing the deer "over the edge" the person affirms life. He clearly has a command of the moment, knows what is to be done, savors the moment and his doing what he has to do. Melodrama cheapens life by its prettying things up. Real life may not always be pleasant but the intensity of the moment described clearly has quickened the senses of the person. He enjoys, or at least feels satisfaction with being he is alive and being able to do what he must.

               We have seen in each poem that being fully aware is all each person has to hold onto in what could otherwise be an unexpected death. "Attempts," is written as a lesson, encouraging others to "study" so they feel comfortable about the journey they are taking. The more one learns, the more one can remain calm, even relaxed in the moment. The person has made each detail of flying very conscious, even as he also has a strong recollection of some close calls while traveling. He concludes that if there are no sure answers, we can at least sense and understand life minute by minute. "Traveling" teaches us that at any moment we may be called upon to step into the darkness and do the right thing. If one isn't careful, it is always possible to "stumble." But the person uses all his powers of observation, even to the point of feeling the "warmth" of the exhaust, in order to do what he must in his life. The two poems are fine examples of not allowing a world full of perils to deter us from living our lives by enjoying each moment.