17 pages • 34 minutes read
Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter
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Themes
Appreciation of Landscape
“Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter” can be read as a poem about the speaker’s appreciation of the northern landscape, even during inclement weather. As the speaker goes into town to mail their letter, they pay close attention to their surroundings. It is so “cold” (Line 1) and “snowy” (Line 1) that others do not want to be outside, hence the town’s “deserted” (Line 1) street. For most people, the cold temperature, wind, and snow would be unpleasant and they would remain indoors. Yet, for the speaker, “this snowy night” (Line 4) produces a very different emotion. They “love” (Line 4) the “privacy” (Line 4) it offers. The black night, the cold temperature, the implied whiteness of the swirling snow are treasured by the solitary speaker, who has the landscape all to themselves. They take their time to enjoy it, deciding to continue “driving around” (Line 5). The deep sense of appreciation for what might normally be a dismal night creates a paradox of value. The speaker says they will “waste more time” (Line 5). This is ironic since they will be doing something they love, which is never a waste of time.
The Pleasures of Privacy
In “Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter,” the speaker treasures the solitude they experience when they mail a letter at night rather than in the daytime. Driving in snow at night can be difficult, especially in a northern climate, but the speaker seems to want to make the trip. They are alone on their errand and observe that the main street of the town is “deserted” (Line 1). The “only things moving,” they say, “are swirls of snow” (Line 2). In the opening lines, the speaker doesn’t connect any emotion with the isolation.
It is only after the speaker raises the mailbox door, feeling “its cold iron” (Line 3) that they move to internal contemplation. The mundane activity of mailing a letter is replaced with a profound “love” (Line 4) of the “privacy” (Line 4) the night offers. The use of such a strong word as “love” (Line 4) is in high contrast to the matter-of-fact observations prior, which clarified isolation but did not show appreciation. The speaker makes clear they are enamored with being alone and unobserved. They continue to drive around even though they now lack a clear agenda (completing a practical chore) to extend their serenity. Bly seems to suggest by this turn in the poem that everyday activities can sometimes lead to states of transcendence.
Grappling with Hesitation
Delaying a chore due to hesitation—usually based on fear of the outcome—is a concept with which most people are familiar. Bly makes use of this common emotional state in “Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter.” One reading of this poem suggests the title may indicate that the speaker put off mailing the letter due to completing other tasks or needing the privacy offered by the late, snowy evening. The word “late” in the title may refer to the time, but could also refer to the fact the speaker should have already mailed the letter. Further, one of the first observations beyond the weather that the speaker makes is that the street is “deserted” (Line 1), which clearly shows they register the lack of people. The speaker later speaks of a “privacy” (Line 4) in the night they “love” (Line 4), showing they did not hope to encounter people.
Bly’s short poem never reveals why the speaker may be hesitant to be around people, or why they do not mail the letter during the daytime though, again, this is but one interpretation of the text. The poem also does not reveal whether the letter is actually mailed. The imagery lingers on the lifting of the mailbox door, but the speaker does not describe the drop of the letter into the box. Because this is not shown, there is a sense the chore was not completed. The poem ends with the speaker still active in “driving around” (Line 5), stating they “will waste more time” (Line 5). The use of the word “more” (Line 5) suggests that the chore was a “waste” (Line 5) of time in the first place. This may show that the speaker no longer feels confident about the letter’s importance. Bly enhances the sense of hesitation with the late hour of mailing the letter, the zeroing in on the mailbox door rather than the action of putting the letter inside, and the details of wasted time.
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