Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter

In the documentary, A Thousand Years of Joy, Robert Bly explains that the landscape of rural Minnesota—particularly the copious snow it receives—was an inspiration for his largely autobiographical debut collection, Silence in the Snowy Fields (1962), which contains “Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter.” The poem’s lack of complicated rhyme and meter and its down-to-earth diction make it accessible to a wide audience. However, Bly’s use of imagery goes deeper than what appears on the surface. The implied imagery is as important as the literal imagery—a technique Bly is famous for employing. It is through the implications that the poem gains meaning and moves beyond just a quaint observation of a “cold and snowy night” (Line 1). The poem is included in a section of the collection called “Awakenings,” and contains what seems to be an epiphany, or realization, for the speaker near the end. They wake up to the fact that “privacy” (Line 4) is a state they “love” (Line 4).

The title is a crucial element of the poem as it reports the essential facts: who (speaker), what (driving), when (late), where (to town), and why (to mail a letter). This title is quite literal—there is a town and a letter to be mailed, which is a concrete action—suggesting the poem will be remarkably straightforward. Yet certain other information is implied, even in the title, adding depth to the poem. The speaker must drive “to” the town to find a mailbox, suggesting they are coming from somewhere more remote where mail trucks do not travel. There is an implication as well that the action is a needed or important one, because the timing is “late,” and the speaker has had to drive a distance to complete the chore.

The first line of the poem, “[i]t is a cold and snowy night” (Line 1), establishes the poem’s setting in regard to weather and temperature. It is likely winter, indicated by the words “cold” (Line 1) and “snowy” (Line 1). The time of day of the setting is indicated by the word “night” (Line 1). The description in the second half of the first line is that the “main street is deserted” (Line 1). The reader associates the desertion with what is established in the previous part of the line: the time and the temperature. Since it is “night” (Line 1), readers may also perceive a visual impression of the evening’s contrast: the black of night and the white of the snow.

The absence of people implied by the word “deserted” (Line 1) is enhanced by the speaker’s observation that “the only things moving are swirls of snow” (Line 2). “[S]wirls” (Line 2) helps establish the presence of an unmentioned but present wind since snow can only swirl if wind moves it. This implies a sense of further determination by the speaker. Not only are they willing to drive to a remote town to mail their letter at a late hour, but they’re willing to brave the weather to do so. This is something others choose not to do as there are no people outside because of the lateness of the hour and/or the climate. This establishes an exceptionality to the speaker’s efforts, even before the reader learns their feelings about the experience in the poem’s closing lines.

The speaker concentrates on the physicality of the mailbox: “As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron” (Line 3). Registering the door’s temperature may suggest that speaker doesn’t have gloves or that the temperature of the metal can be felt through the gloves; this enhances the continued sense of cold. The use of the word “iron” (Line 3) suggests the door has a certain weight to it that they must “lift” (Line 3). This weight could be the physical weight of the mailbox door, but may be symbolic of the emotional “weight” of mailing the letter. Having to “lift” the heavy door may suggest effort or hesitation.

The next line, “[t]here is a privacy I love in this snowy night” (Line 4), creates an emotional turn in the poem. Previously, the speaker offered observations and descriptions with implied emotional meaning. Here, they offer a direct emotional connection for the first time. The speaker declares they appreciate being alone in the snow while the rest of the town remains inside. There is a sense of “privacy” (Line 4) which occurs “in this snowy night” (Line 4). This state of quiet solitude is worthy of the speaker’s “love” (Line 4). Using this impassioned diction choice offers the reader a glimpse into the speaker’s psyche. The word “privacy” (Line 4) may imply the speaker needs to be alone to mail this particular letter, which is made possible by their timing. In this reading, they’ve chosen the late hour because they know the streets will be “deserted” (Line 2) so “privacy” (Line 4) is guaranteed. The speaker feels the freedom of being unwatched, of not participating in public.

The last line situates the speaker back inside the car, “[driving] around” (Line 5). This suggests that rather than return the way they came, the speaker will continue to observe the town, night, and snow. Most importantly, they note they “will waste more time” (Line 5)—a phrase of many implications. The first is that the speaker wants to extend the feeling of “privacy” (Line 4), and “waste more time” (Line 5) to do so. Here, time is not really wasted as the continued sense of solitude offers contemplative enjoyment. Alternately, focusing on the word “waste” (Line 5) may show that the speaker has changed their idea regarding the importance of their original errand. Mailing the letter is now not as important as it first seemed, a fact highlighted by the word “more” (Line 5). Wasting “more” (Line 5) time suggests that driving into town was also a waste. Lastly, there is the possibility that the speaker was deterred from the emotional weight of mailing the letter—the “cold iron door” (Line 3) is merely lifted, the letter never dropped in—and they must drive around until they get the nerve to actually put the letter inside the mailbox. The implication in the last interpretation is that the content of the letter might shatter their beloved “privacy” (Line 4).

All of these interpretations are indicative of the rich world Bly created with a speaker’s simple observation of a snowy night.