The Road Poem By Billy Collins Summary

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This poem is about a young man that is in the midst of battle, trying to cross an open space of land to kill the enemy that is hiding in the “green hedge” in the distance, and all the while confused about what he is doing. He knows physically that he is charging at the enemy, but when he thinks about his reason for doing it, he has no answer for himself. He is ashamed of the “human dignity” that is “Dropped like luxuries” in the “cold clockwork” that he is participating. I felt a connection with this poem mostly in the line of “Listening between his footfalls for the reason of his still running” as I often find myself in the same situation as this man. During the school seasons in particular, I wonder sometimes why I do what teachers tells