In the poem “The Journey”, “voices” are reoccurring and they change throughout the poem. These “voices” in your life can be external as in the negative influences in your life, they can also be internal. Thoughts inside your head can be the “voices.” In different ways the “voices” can help you and hurt you. The poem is saying that you will need to take out negative influences in your life and focus on yourself to achieve what you want in life. Once you reach the point where you only have positivity, everything will be easier. When trying to reach your goals negativity can slow you down.

The first use of the “voices” in “The Journey” is used to show that people around you or society can have a negative influence on you. Mary Oliver writes, “though the voices around you / kept shouting their bad advice” (3-5). At this moment in the poem the “voices” are “around you”, this implies that the voices are external. These “voices” are “shouting”; this means that the voices are loud and they are hard to ignore. By using “shout” it implies that the “voices” are upset and they are trying hard to impose their negativity on you. The author uses the word “kept” to signify that the voices are also being very persistent, they keep repeating their “bad advice”. By the quote referring to what the “voices” are saying as “bad advice”, what they are saying is not helpful to you. In this quote, the voices can bring you down with their negativity, while in the next use of the voices they can slow you down by asking for your sympathy.

The next instance the voices are used, the voices are trying to get sympathy from you and distract you from what you want to focus on. Oliver writes, “’Mend my life!’ / each voice cried (Oliver 10-11).” By the use of the word “mend”, the voices are saying that they need help repairing their life. The voices are not just saying that, they are crying it, meaning they are begging for your help and attention. In the last quote the voices are “shouting” and now the voices are “crying”; by the use of these two words, the voices are going from being hurtful to being desperate. This quote shows that the voices will beg for your sympathy and slow you down, how the “voices” are used next shows that they can go deep inside you and hurt you from there. 

In this instance of the voices, the voices are doing damage to you from deep inside of you. Oliver writes, “You knew what you had to do, / though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations, / though their melancholy was terrible (Oliver 14-18).” Through the use of metaphor, the author compares the voices to the wind. The word “foundations” is referencing your true self and the voices can get down to it. Their “melancholy”, or their sadness can dig down into your true self. Through the use of the words “pried” and “stiff”, the way the voices get down to your “foundations” is rough and painful. While this quote is comparing the voices to the wind, the next quote can compare the voices to a whole storm. 

 Oliver writes, “It was already late / enough, and a wild night, / and the road of fallen / branches and stones (Oliver 19-22).” The voices are being compared to a storm by using metaphor. Based on the quote “the road of fallen branches and stones”, the voices do damage and pass on like a storm does but it leaves behind something that needs to be repaired. The “road” is signifying that what is damaged is your path. This quote shows that the voices can do damage to your path but is repairable; the next quote shows that once you repair the broken part the voices left behind, you can move on and become stronger. 

In the last appearance the voices have, it is an entirely new voice that is not negative. The new voice helps you in your journey. Oliver states, “The stars begin to burn / through the sheets of clouds, / and there was a new voice / which you slowly recognized as your own, / that kept you company” (Oliver 25-29). The poem is comparing the “new voice” or positivity to the light from the stars that comes through the clouds. The quote: “The stars begin to burn / through the sheets of clouds,”, shows that if you can block out all of the negative influences, a new light can shine through and this light is the positivity. With the light coming out of the sheets of clouds it represents it coming from the heavens or from a better place.  With the use of the word “slowly”, you do not notice the voice is your own immediately, you are hesitant to listen to the voices because you know the harm they can do. With the voice being “your own”, you need to focus on yourself meaning you make yourself a priority. The word “kept” is saying that the voices will stay with you. The voices “kept you company” which shows that you only really need yourself on the way to success.

The voices change throughout the poem; they will go from being harmful and depressing, to positive and important. In the first instance, the voices are trying to bring you down with their negativity. The next instance, they will try to slow you down by begging for your sympathy. The “voices” can hurt you from deep inside of you in the next use. The last instance the voices are shown, the voice is your voice and it is positive. The way the voices change shows that although the road may be tough, things will get better in the end. When you focus just on the negativity you will not be able to focus on yourself and it will be very difficult to complete your goals. If you make yourself a priority, there will not be any distractions. And once you leave the negative voices behind you have room to grow stronger. These voices do not come from anyone in particular, they can be coming from different people. If you keep pushing through all the negativity you will eventually make it to where you are surrounded by positivity. All you may need is just yourself to become successful. 
