Dolor By Theodore Roethke Essay

The imagery used in this verse appeals to the sense sight. This helps the reader visualise what the writer is taking about. It also allows the reader to relate and connect more to the poem.

The poem suddenly becomes much darker in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a poem by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it”. Here, the poem is being personified yet again and this brings about an almost human connection between the reader and the poem. This use of personification is effective as it makes the

combination of tone, connotative words, imagery, figurative language and musical device to give the reader a true picture of the woman he loves and shows the hidden beauty that seems hidden to all but him. Roethke uses a first person point of view to give an intimate image of a woman he loves and admires in more than one way.

A text is essentially a product of its context, as its prevailing values are inherently derived by the author from society. However, the emergence of post-modern theories allows for audience interpretation, thus it must be recognised that meaning in texts can be shaped and reshaped. Significantly, this may occur as connections between texts are explored. These notions are reflected in the compostion of Edson’s W;t and Donne’s poetry as their relationship is established through intertextual references, corresponding values and ideas and the use of language features. Edson particularly portrays key values surrounding the notions of the importance of loved based relationships, and death and resurrection: central themes of Donne’s Holy Sonnets

The author uses imagery in the poem to enable the reader to see what the speaker sees. For example, in lines 4-11 the speaker describes to us the

Theodore Dalrymple is an English writer and retired prison doctor and psychiatrist. Daniel in his writings has frequently argued that the liberal and progressive views prevalent within Western intellectual circles minimize the responsibility of individuals for their own actions and undermine mores which are traditional, contributing to the formation within rich countries of an underclass which is afflicted by violence, sexually transmitted diseases, criminality, welfare dependency and drug abuse. His writings are generally based on his experience of working with criminals and the mentally ill. Dalrymple has been at various occasions been accused of being a pessimist and a misanthrope, but his persistent conservative philosophy has which is

I Nicholas W. Dorrance was born June 18, 2004, at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I am 11 years old, I like my family and friends. I also have many hobbies and some other things like vacations and fun times.

The author also gives the poem a very descriptive tone through a significant amount of imagery. For example, the metaphor; “his fingers make a hat about his head” (Roethke, 3), provides a detailed description of the bat’s upper body in such a way that the reader is able to picture the bat as what Roethke wants him/her to picture it as. One could also infer that the author may again be trying to make the connection between bat and man; since men wear hats and not bats. Another metaphor would be; “by day the bat is cousin to the mouse” (Roethke, 1). Of course, mouse

Through the poem's imagery, it seems as if the speaker is purposefully painting an ambiguous picture of himself, but is also successful in slowly perfecting it by the end of the poem. Likewise, he also applies this idea towards the rhyme scheme, catching the reader off guard once again. The first two lines, “My lizard, my lively writher / may your limbs never wither,” is a slant rhyme, as well as the next two lines that follow. Recognizing the rhyme scheme of these four lines forces the reader to question the obvious: Why would a poet deliberately play with the rhyme scheme if he is only trying to express his true, sincere feelings for someone? One could argue that Roethke does this to compliment his playful imagery at the beginning of the poem, both of which keep his reader attentive and focused. Moreover, building this sense of obscurity also gives the poem a deeper meaning and adds a new twist to what otherwise would have been an ordinary love poem.

“Roethke was a great poet, the successor to Frost and Stevens in modern American poetry, and it is the measure of his greatness that his work repays detailed examination” (Parini 1). Theodore Roethke was a romantic who wrote in a variety of styles throughout his long successful career. However, it was not the form of his verse that was important, but the message being delivered and the overall theme of the work. Roethke was a deep thinker and often pondered about and reflected on his life. This introspection was the topic of much of his poetry. His analysis of his self and his emotional experiences are often expressed in his verse. According to Ralph J. Mills Jr., “this self interest was the primary matter of

The world of poetry is often thought of as a world of Shakespearian sonnets and sappy proclamations of love and longing. However, if you dig deeper you will discover poets such as Emily Dickinson, Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Theodore Roethke, etc., who have all discussed suffering, sadness, and mortality in beautiful ways. Michael Dickman, a contemporary poet, is no stranger to suffering, and much of his works contain stories of the pains we must face in today’s society. Dickman’s poems discuss “spiritual longing, the improbable expectations fathers have for their sons, drug abuse, gritty neighborhoods, and unfailingly complicated human relationships (coppercanyonpress).” However, although his poems are bursting with loss and disappointment, they still allow the reader to know that “still/there is a lot to pray to/on earth” and that with suffering comes hope.

Instead of writing hundreds of pages Roethke manages to fit a wide range of emotions into a more creative form by minimizing it into a poem. Each section of the poem is creating a leap to the next set of ideas running through the narrators head from confusion to reaching clarity. The first stanza introduces the dark setting and emotions that the narrator is in. From the following pieces of description “the echoing wood”, “weeping to a tree”, “Beasts of the hill and serpents of the den” form the image of a man wandering outside alone. Roethke also gives insight to the individuals inner turmoil he’s begging to face, gathered from the following phrases “I meet my shadow in the deepening shade” and “I hear my echo”. The title “In a Dark Time” collaborates most with the first stanza to set the clear tone that this man is going through a dark moment.

c.) From an emotional prospective, this material was not an “Easy read.” The solemn happenings

The speaker personifies the rock, the scissors, and the paper in the poem. The purpose of personifying the objects is to humanize them, making the reader relate them to real life and in human nature, because it makes them think about very powerful people and how they are lonely. Also the use of “mine” in the first three stanzas not only personifies the objects, but connotes

My cultural identity is a white, twenty-year old, German American, whose Christian and Republican. I hold true to the Bible and the life of Jesus Christ, Republican values and have high value for friends and family. With family and friends, my level of affection and openness varies slightly. I do not openly show affection towards family, but I would do anything to protect them, their integrity, and would not hesitate to lay down my life for them. Despite my willingness to protect family no matter what, I do not have the closest relationship with them so I am more hesitant to open up on deeper issues. Similar to family, I would protect them no matter what, however, I open up more depending on the strength of the relationship and the level of trust with them.