The Journey

In Oliver’s free verse poem “The Journey,” the speaker uses only the second person and is a reflection using past tense. The pronouns “I” and “my” do not appear; the speaker only uses the pronouns “you” and “your.” The first line, “One day you finally knew” (Line 1), emphasizes how the experience of the journey is not the speaker’s alone, but an experience that everyone can have. It starts with knowing the necessary actions, and beginning to act on that knowledge. Lines 1 through 3 have internal and end rhymes between the words knew and you, the latter appearing three times in the three lines. The end rhyme appears in Lines 1 and 3, with “knew” (Line 1) and “you” (Line 3). The word “you” internally rhymes with itself; you is a word embedded inside these lines, as well as ending a line. Oliver’s repetition and rhyme develop the theme of Following Internal Knowledge. The speaker asserts that every person, every “you,” has a voice worth listening to and their actions should reflect their self-knowledge.

In order to do this, the speaker asserts in Lines 3 through 5, you must shut out negative external influences. This introduces the theme of Escaping Other People’s Chaos. The “voices around you” (Line 3) must be tuned out because their advice is “bad” (Line 5). They offer unsound suggestions. The word “voice” (Lines 3, 11, 24, 27) is repeated four times in the poem, and the first three times it refers to the words of other people. In the first appearance of the word voice, the speaker notes that the advice of the voices is not only unhelpful, but it is also repeatedly “shout[ed]” (Line 4). Line 5 ends with an em dash that connects the auditory aspect of the voices with the tactile experience. 

Lines 6 and 7 can be read as the tactile experience of shouting voices amplified into an symbolic emotional storm. As the speaker recounts, you continued on the journey even “though the whole house / began to tremble” (Lines 6-7). Shouting can cause some parts of a house to tremble; loud voices can be felt as well as heard. The storm imagery is that the “whole house” (Line 6, emphasis added) trembled, as if there were strong gusts of wind. Oliver describes the wind later in the poem, but the storm symbolism begins here. It represents how other people create the chaos around you.

In Lines 8 through 12, Oliver adds more tactile and auditory details about other people. Not only do the voices demand that you “mend” (Line 10) their lives, but they also “tug / at your ankles” (Lines 9-10). The diction of mend evokes sewing imagery; you are being asked to sew together, or fix, someone else’s life. Sewing involves tugging on string, such as when tying a knot after darning a sock. The words and actions reflect one another. The people begging you for tugging and mending were distractions from your own journey and your own voice; you needed to focus on Escaping Other People’s Chaos.

However, you were resolute, the speaker asserts in Lines 12 and 13. You “didn’t stop. / You knew what you had to do” (Lines 12-13). You kept going. The phrase “knew what you had to do” (Line 13) is a repeat line from the first stanza. The repetition highlights the continued presence of internal knowledge. Your sense of self, or internal voice, was still there, further developing the theme of Following Internal Knowledge. Additionally, the speaker’s emphasis on not stopping builds on the previous diction of “began” (Line 2). You not only began your journey, but you continued without interruption or distraction.

Lines 14 through 18 develop the symbolism of a storm surrounding a house. You continued on “though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations” (Lines 14-16). The storm tried to uproot the “house” (Line 6) by pulling at its “foundations” (Line 16). This symbolizes how people will attempt to pull you away from your journey. The wind can also evoke the experience of a literal storm and therein represent nature’s power over things made by humans. The following lines about how “their melancholy / was terrible” (Lines 17-18) develop the theme of Escaping Other People’s Chaos. This is because of the specifically human and destructive nature of the emotion. The excessive and expansive sorrow of other people can deter you from your intended path.

In Lines 19-22, Oliver describes how the storm affected the path. Your journey took place deep in “a wild night, / and [on] the road full of fallen / branches and stones” (Lines 20-22). The debris in your path came from the chaotic storm of other people’s emotions. Your progression in the journey was hindered by both melancholic intrusions and their aftermath. Stopping to clear out the debris created by others could have held you back—you did not let that happen.

Progress is described by the speaker as slow but steady. You incrementally advanced on the road, moving “little by little” (Line 23). You were committed, but not rushing, to leave the “voices behind” (Line 24). The things that other people demanded of you slowly disappeared into the distance and you finally saw the clear sky. Oliver introduces celestial symbolism here. Once alone, “the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds” (Lines 25-26). The stars reflect an internal fire. They began to burn as you to journeyed away from the expectations of other people. The stars symbolize inner direction and purpose, and their fire represents personal power. Oliver’s description of clouds recalls earlier sewing imagery; sheets that are burned need mending. However, you can focus on the stars instead of mending sheets, or other domestic acts in service of others, once you prioritize Following Internal Knowledge.

The speaker moves on the show that finding your own path is being able to hear your own voice. The demanding voices of others faded out and you were able to hear “a new voice / which you slowly / recognized as your own” (Lines 27-29). The multiplicity of external melancholies was replaced by a single sound: the sound of your inner wisdom. In real life, it takes time to divide your ideas from the ideas of others. The adjective “slowly” here echoes the earlier phrase “little by little” (Line 23). After a while, you realized that your voice was a companion. Hearing it and heeding it is important in Following Internal Knowledge.

Oliver further develops the celestial symbolism by including references to Earth. Your voice kept you company “as you strode deeper and deeper / into the world” (Lines 31-32). Our world is only one planet among the many “stars” (Line 25). You are only one person among the many people on this planet. To be fully part of this world is to navigate it with your inner wisdom, rather than simply being driven by the demands of other people. The theme of Escaping Other People’s Chaos is developed by choosing to navigate by the stars, rather than by the demands of others.

The final lines include a variation of a previous refrain. The refrain you “knew what you had to do” (Line 13) appears in Lines 1-2 as well as in Line 13. This refrain changes, becoming “determined to do / the only thing you could do” (Lines 33-34). Knowledge narrows and becomes action. In other words, there was only one action you could take at the end of the journey: You could only help yourself. The “only life you could save” (Line 36) is your own life. Each person, every “you” that the speaker addresses, has to discover and listen to their own inner wisdom. The message is clear: You are not responsible for saving every life, and you have to save your own life before helping other people.