During the first half of this poem, description and imagery play a very important role in setting the mood. The description of the night in the first four stanzas transmits serenity and peacefulness. This is probably what Carruth feels when he drives along the streets of Vermont late at night. However, even though the mood is mostly tranquil, there is always a certain sense of melancholy that is hard to ignore. In my opinion, this melancholy is represented with the disappearing moon. Without a moon shining in the night sky, it always seems that there is something crucial missing, and maybe this is something that Carruth feels and wishes to transmit with his poem.
This feeling of melancholy is carried on into the second half of the poem, when the author encounters the cows. I believe that the cows are important to the poem because their eyes remind Carruth of something from his past. He goes through a few moments of remembrance, during which he recalls two innocent, sad girls he once knew. It is unclear who these two girls are and what they represent. The author never lets the reader know the story of the two girls—he never reveals why they are sad. Nevertheless, I don’t think that it is crucial to know this story in order to grasp the essence of the poem. I think that this is a poem about nostalgia and reminiscence. It describes those moments when we are so alone and tranquil that we can actually look back on our lives and, in a way, relive the past. Furthermore, it describes those moments when something that seems trivial, such as a bunch of cows, actually reminds us of things that are important to us.
This feeling of melancholy is carried on into the second half of the poem, when the author encounters the cows. I believe that the cows are important to the poem because their eyes remind Carruth of something from his past. He goes through a few moments of remembrance, during which he recalls two innocent, sad girls he once knew. It is unclear who these two girls are and what they represent. The author never lets the reader know the story of the two girls—he never reveals why they are sad. Nevertheless, I don’t think that it is crucial to know this story in order to grasp the essence of the poem. I think that this is a poem about nostalgia and reminiscence. It describes those moments when we are so alone and tranquil that we can actually look back on our lives and, in a way, relive the past. Furthermore, it describes those moments when something that seems trivial, such as a bunch of cows, actually reminds us of things that are important to us.
