“The Road,” by the Australian writer and environmental activist Nancy Fotheringham Cato, illustrates the exhilaration of speeding down a long, dark country road towards the sunrise. Rushing away from the looming night, the speaker feels momentarily in control of time itself and muses on the relationship between life, death, and the forces of nature. On a more symbolic level, the poem also suggests the importance of striving toward hope even in the face of certain darkness. Cato utilizes common meter and the lyrical ballad form to evoke the speaker's fast yet steady pace along the road. The poem is also a good example of Cato's consistent focus on humanity's connection with the environment in her poetry and beyond. "The Road" appeared in Cato's 1957 collection The Dancing Bough.

• Read the full text of “The Road”

• “The Road” Summary

• “The Road” Themes

  • 

    Life, Death, and Time

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20
  • 

    The Power of Hope

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Road”

  • Lines 1-2

    I made the ...
    ... the shouldering hill,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 3-4

    I raced along ...
    ... itself stood still.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-8

    I could have ...
    ... back to day.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    And like a ...
    ... ahead was bright.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    The fence-posts whizzed ...
    ... into the past.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    And light and ...
    ... towards the sun.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Road” Symbols

  • 

    The Road

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “eastern track”
    • Lines 13-14: “The fence-posts whizzed along wires / like days that fly too fast,”
    • Lines 15-16: “telephone poles loomed up like years / and slipped into the past.”
    • Line 17: “sky and road”
  • 

    The Sun/Light

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “I could have made the sun arise, / and night turn back to day.”
    • Line 12: “but all ahead was bright.”
    • Line 20: “I drove towards the sun.”
  • 

    Night/Darkness

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “I made the rising moon go back / behind the shouldering hill,”
    • Line 5: “The stars swarmed on behind the trees,”
    • Lines 9-11: “And like a long black carpet / behind the wheels, the night / unrolled across the countryside,”

• “The Road” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-11: “And like a long black carpet / behind the wheels, the night / unrolled across the countryside,”
    • Lines 13-16: “The fence-posts whizzed along wires / like days that fly too fast, / and telephone poles loomed up like years / and slipped into the past.”

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “I made”
    • Line 3: “I raced”
    • Line 6: “but I sped”
    • Line 7: “I could”
    • Line 8: “and night”
    • Line 9: “And like”
    • Line 15: “and telephone”
    • Line 16: “and slipped”
    • Line 17: “And light”
    • Line 18: “and life”
    • Line 20: “I drove”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “track / till time”
    • Line 4: “itself stood still”
    • Line 5: “stars swarmed”
    • Line 9: “like,” “long,” “black”
    • Line 10: “behind”
    • Line 11: “across,” “countryside”
    • Line 12: “but,” “ahead,” “bright”
    • Line 13: “whizzed,” “wires”
    • Line 14: “fly,” “fast”
    • Line 15: “loomed,” “like”
    • Line 17: “light”
    • Line 18: “life”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “back / behind”
    • Lines 3-4: “track / till”
    • Lines 9-10: “carpet / behind”
    • Lines 10-11: “night / unrolled”
    • Lines 13-14: “wires / like”
    • Lines 15-16: “years / and”
    • Lines 17-18: “road / and”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4
    • Lines 9-12
    • Lines 13-16
    • Lines 17-20

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “I made the rising moon go back / behind the shouldering hill,”
    • Line 5: “The stars swarmed on behind the trees,”
    • Lines 9-12: “And like a long black carpet / behind the wheels, the night / unrolled across the countryside, / but all ahead was bright.”
    • Line 13: “The fence-posts whizzed along wires”
    • Line 15: “and telephone poles loomed up like years”

• “The Road” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Shouldering
  • Eastern track
  • Swarmed
  • Whizzed
  • Loomed
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “behind the shouldering hill”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Road”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Road” Speaker

• “The Road” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Road”

• More “The Road” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Australian Literature in the Mid-20th Century — Learn more about important figures and events in Australia's literary history from 1940 to 1970. 

    • More About Cato — Read a brief biography on Cato from the University of Queensland. 

    • Driving Through the Countryside — See what it's like to drive through Australia's countryside in this YouTube video. 

    • Roads in Poetry — Peruse more excellent poems inspired by roads.

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