In a Dark Time by Theodore Roethke

The experience of darkness is both individual and universal. Within Emily Dickinson’s “We grow accustomed to the Dark” and Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with the Night,” the speakers engage in an understanding of darkness and night as much greater than themselves. Every individual has an experience of the isolation of the night, as chronicled in Frost’s poem, yet it is a global experience that everyone must face, on which Dickinson’s poem elaborates. Through the use of rhythm, point of view, imagery, and mood, each poet makes clear the fact that there is no single darkness that is too difficult to overcome.

All the light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, chronicles the lives and relationship between Marie and Werner, two children who grew up in France and Germany. The society around them forces discriminatory ideals that cloud their perception of the world, but they find its meaning through their own self-definition. In this, they are both guided by a single radio and the message and legacy that it contains. Throughout the book, the author isolated the two characters, but also created subtle connections between the two. The most important of which would be the radio. It created a bond between the two where they learned from each other’s experiences and struggles. All the Light We Cannot See recreates a new picture of the world by contrasting the two separate journeys taken by Marie- Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig to gain that image, which is guided by the power of a radio and the message it contains, ultimately leading to the meeting of the two characters that officially forms an image of the world where one’s actions are valued more than one’s physical features.

Throughout the story Baldwin illustrates that darkness is approaching when he says, “And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness. He knows that every time this happens he's moved just a little closer to that darkness outside”(7). The darkness and light Baldwin describes works as cycle, similar to night and day, after light comes darkness and after darkness comes light. The pattern of darkness and light is painted to symbolize the cycle of suffering and salvation, showing without one the other cannot exist. It is how to achieve this balance of light and dark that the narrator struggles with throughout the story. The narrator witnesses many instances of darkness, when his daughter died he wrote, “I was sitting in the living-room in the dark, by myself, and I suddenly thought of Sonny. My trouble made his real”(14). This instance of darkness the narrator depicts shows that suffering hold a present everywhere, it’s universal, and people can cope with their suffering though relating to one another. Furthermore, the recurring idea of darkness throughout the story shows that suffering will always exist and it is a vital part of the human experience. However, one can find the light, escaping the darkness for a moment, through relating to one another and showing compassion. In essence, the symbols light and darkness are used to develop Baldwins theme that suffering is

Sometimes, it seems that the best representation of fiction is reality, not the other way

Howard Thurman removes the window dressing in the African American experience of segregation in America. Thurman in his book, “The Luminous Darkness” paints an obscure portrait that delved deep into the consciousness of Black men, women and children freshly freed from chattel slavery. Two hundred years of slavery and one hundred years of darkness seeping into each soul perpetuated by an evil explained only through the Word of God. Although this book was published in the 60’s, the stigma segregation continues resonate in the souls of those who remember and perhaps even in the souls of those who do not.

Plato’s philosophical writing, “Allegory of the Cave,” discusses the plight of trapped individuals that cease to see light in an otherwise dark environment. Sherman Alexie’s “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona” details a struggling young man coping with the loss of his distant father. With the loss of his father, Victor finds himself trapped and begins spiraling down a dark path. Plato’s writing provides a philosophical abstract to relate Victor’s enlightening.

Admittedly, Roethke uses imagery to convey the devoted relationship of him and his father. For instance, in the first paragraph the author illustrates, “. . .whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy. . . hung on like death; such waltzing was not easy.” Despite the fact that Roethke’s father is intoxicated, he still hangs on to him. These phrases help highlight the idea that Roethke has a doting relationship with his father and his unwillingness to leave him. Further in the poem, “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf,” reveals their playful relationship. One can see from this, the crashing of the pots and the sounds of laughter. On another note, the mother has a facial expression that “could not unfrown itself.” This phrase helps reveal that the mother isn’t involved in their play. She does not favor the fact that her pots are jumbling all over her kitchen. As well as in the last stanza, Roethke illustrates that his father’s hand is

“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 quote "Character is what you are in the dark" - Dwight Lyman Moody has a few meanings. Mostly it means that you're different when you're alone. When you're around people they are influences of some sort. If you get into a situation when you're with people you might react differently than if you were alone, resulting in a different outcome. A lot of the time people aren't their true self around friends, or family, or whoever it may be for many reasons. A big reason is they don't want to be judged. Maybe they wanna look "cool" or get popular for something. Maybe they think they'll be looked at differently for being who they truly are. So basically fear of what others think keeps us from being who we really are. Fear can make us act different,

With “Night,” the eighth poem and first of the second section, darkness descends, bringing with it a series of scenes horrifying and pathetic.

Ronald Reagan once said, “We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won.” I read the book, Dancing in the dark by Morris Dickstein. This book was about the great depression, and the impacts it had on American life. The traditional thought of poverty, people dying of hunger and people lying in the roads, has been erased. America has abolished poverty by the traditional standards but the thought of poverty and what it is has changed. In America we consider poverty to be spending all your money on bills, so you have no money left for food to feed your family. We consider poverty to be just being poor. One-Third of our population makes less than $38,000. This is not enough to be able to be above the poverty line. Anything below this

     William Stafford’s "Traveling through the dark" is beautifully written poem that expresses one of life’s most challenging aspects. It is the story of a man’s solitary struggle to deal with a tragic event that he encounters.

The poem ”In a Dark Time” written by Theodore Roethke illustrates the inner conflict between good and evil faced by the character in this piece. The main topic portrayed in the poem is the constant fight between giving into the dark part of the yourself or persevering to achieve the good. The poet in this piece uses visual imagery to help convey to the reader the immense inner turmoil the character is facing. The author sets the dark tone of the poem by using sound imagery to help the reader understand the violent internal fight the speaker is going through. Symbolism is used constantly during the poem to allow the reader a more meaningful understanding of the poem and the internal battle the character faces. Roethke uses imagery and symbolism to demonstrate the internal struggle between good and evil that the narrator faces in this piece.

Although the father has a rough exterior, is a man of few words, and is not the most sensitive man, the imagery used within this poem hints at the father being a hero in his young son’s eyes. Lastly, Roethke creates the picture of a loving relationship as the narrator states that his father “waltzed me off to bed/Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). Based upon the imagery used, Roethke reveals an openly affectionate relationship between a hard-working father and his son.

Theodore Roethke is able to make readers emphasize to his poems by using people’s common life experience as a child in his poetry. By using people’s common experience, Roethke is able to describe his theme about human life and nature easier that every reader can understand. Bobby Fong states, “‘My papa’s Waltz’ is characterized as depicting the father's ‘mixture of tenderness and brutality’ and the child's ‘admiration and fear’” (78). In “My Papa’s Waltz”, it gives readers a image of a father and a child while they read through the poem. Roethke writes, “The hand that held my wrist / was battered on one knuckle; / At every step you missed / My right ear scraped a buckle” (Poetry Foundation). This stanza gives readers a child’s point of view to his father. Specifically, these stanzas gives a image of a caring father. Roethke successfully delivered the peaceful, warm image of dad so that everybody can relate themselves to this poem because everybody have a memory of a youth life with