Wife Hits Moose

We all have the desire to control our destiny but the degree to which we are able to manifest that desire concretely is, ironically, not under our control. Thomas Lux’s poem, Wife hits moose describes the story of a wondering moose colliding with a wife driving through a forest road during dusk. The author’s third person recall of the incident creates a detached, ironic tone and outlines to the audience that the author has little at stake or control over the situation. Lux effectively uses the last stanza in his poem to prompt the reader to consider the chance of such an encounter and as to whether it was contributed to by a supreme intelligence or just random chance.

The poem is written in four stanzas with a register of seven lines a stanza. Each stanza describes a different stage of the collision. From an introductory, tranquil scene of both moose and wife, then a detailed description of the collision and the aftermath, ending with the speaker pondering on the chance of such an event and if a supreme intelligence was involved.

The speaker’s use of “sometime” in the opening stanza allows him to detach himself from the collision and also highlights that he has no stake over the outcome of the crash. The speaker sketches a tranquil atmospheric scene through terms such as “moose”, “highway” and “forest”. The terms also highlight that the event could of happened in any location that has a “moose”, “Highway” or “forest”; this is purposely done to make the audience think about the chances of such an event happening, which brings forward the theme of supreme intelligence or a controller of fate. Lux characterizes the moose as an unassuming animal, however he personifies it as thinking for itself in the quote “decides the day, for him is done.” This develops the idea of supreme intelligence; if the moose decides the day is over, then it must have a minor thought process, which means that, it could believe in a supreme intelligence.

In line five the speaker...