Theodore Roethke Research Paper

Examples of this negative outlook can be found within the first line of the second stanza, “Time drives flocks from fields to fold,” this shows the poems negative attitude towards nature. Other examples can be found such as in the first line of the third stanza, “The flowers do fade,” this is saying that the flowers and all pretty things of nature will decay and die as time passes. The evident negative attitude towards nature can also be found the the third and final poem.

In the final stanza, Roethke again addresses Jane in the terms of non human endearment as "my skittery pigeon" (19), but his final expression of loss comes in terms of a unique human relationship: "neither father nor lover." Roethke succeeds in capturing an individual person, his feelings for her, and his sense of loss at her death. This poem, one of the best of the few poems in which Roethke tried to capture an individual, according to Ross-Bryant, owes its success to Jane's association with nature and the final statement of the poet's love (74-75.)

An aspiring poet of the twentieth century, Theodore Roethke set the bar for his peers in poetry. Roethke led a short yet successful life, with his great poem “My Papa's Waltz” being a sample of his meaningful works. Roethke was the son of German immigrants and was born on May twenty fifth, 1908 in Saginaw Michigan(“My Papa’s Waltz”). During Theodore Roethke’s childhood, his family owned some of the biggest greenhouses in the state(Theodore Roethke).Theodore Roethke’s father, Otto, was a person who enjoyed hobbies that differed much from Theodores hobbies(My Papa’s Waltz-Themes and meanings). Otto enjoyed much more “manly” hobbies. Like any father, Otto wanted his son to share the same hobbies as himself, but early on in Theodore’s life it was obvious that Theodore would not follow his Father(My Papa’s Waltz-Themes and meanings). Otto died before Theodore got to really know his father, and

The arresting union of beauty and decay in the unexpected form of flower is experienced in the poem entitled “November Cotton Flower”. In this poem, Toomer writes of the blooming of the flower during a time of death. The poem reads, “dead birds were found/ In wells a hundred feet below the ground –/ Such was the season when the flower bloomed” (4). Linked by a hyphen to the verses preceding the arrival of the flower, the flower must be understood as a direct result of the death in the surrounding environment. Though it appears that the flower is overcoming a time of death and ugliness through its birth, the flower’s creation due to the dry, dying soil also emphasizes the death and pain inherent in the flower. The text proclaims, “Drouht fighting

Elegy for Jane which is one of Roethke’s most famous poems was published in The Waking: Poems 1933-1953 (DiYanni). An elegy is defined as a poem written in memory of a deceased acquaintance (Dictionary.com). Throughout the whole poem there is a mournful and dreary mood being conveyed. Roethke describes the girl in the poem and mentions elements of nature, but neither are described or portrayed as beautiful. The first line Roethke wrote “I remember the neckcurls, limp and damp as tendrils” is not a very beautiful sounding description, and he mentions a wren and skittery pigeon neither of which are birds of beauty. In the poem the girl dies and the narrator, her teacher, is at her funeral feeling a little misplaced. Roethke

Theodore Huebner Roethke was an American poet who grew internally from the experiences that shaped him and transferred them to works that became immensely famous and influential (Theodore Roethke). The poet’s adolescent years were harsh and jarred. He spent most of his childhood playing in his father’s greenhouse and surrounding himself with nature. The emotional events that presented themselves into Roethke’s life because of his father’s death and his uncle’s suicide made him feel isolated and abandoned during his time spent at several different colleges which subsequently influenced him to create one his works, “In A Dark Time,” representing the war between a man and his madness by emphasizing the use of a paradox, personification, and natural imagery.

His father passed away when he was fourteen years old. In addition, he constantly felt lonely and abandoned when he was in high school. In college he had a tough image and he considered himself unhappy (Poetry Foundation). All these factors should be considered when analyzing his work. This poem is a form of expression and reveals emotions he had through his life. You can feel Roethke’s sadness while reading the 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 incorporation of cable wire and technology allowed the industry to produce and become more efficient for everyday living. Therefore, resulting in consumer goods, health services, military, transportation, communications, and agriculture. As a German immigrant, John A. Roebling and other German-American immigrants, are recognized on October 4, 2003, by George W. Bush, as pioneers which have significantly influenced our country. George W. Bush stated in a proclamation to celebrate how our country was greatly influenced by German Americans which included John Augustus Roebling and his son Washington Roebling as they “pioneered the development of suspension bridges and wire cable. Their construction of the Brooklyn Bridge is a lasting landmark

Robert Kroetsch’s “Meditation on Tom Thomson” is about the death of Tom Thomson, as well as some of the beautiful paintings that he has created. The poem is written in a serious and formal tone. The poem is embracing elegy by letting the readers understand how Tom Thomson died but then also subverts it by giving the poem a more gratified perspective rather than a gloomy read. This has a good effect on the poem because the poem is about the death of a person, but not only is Kroetsch talking about the death of Tom, but also the astonishing paintings and what he loved most about them. Subverting these conventions are important because without them the poem would be entirely different, and would be read differently than intended.

The narrator of the poem directly addresses Death. Within the poem the narrator of the poem personifies Death, which causes Death to become less threatening. While speaking to one of humanity’s greatest fears, the narrator attempts to persuade the audience to not live their live in fear of death, “From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,/ much pleasure”. The narrator chooses to view death as a time of rest for the physical body after years of being alive and active. Through further personification, the narrator describes Death as “Thou art a slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men”. Through this, Death shares a commonality with the reader, Death has an occupation; therefore Death is not free. While Death’s duty is to kill, the

In this particular, poem all the lines in the poem are written in iambic meter. Also, there are four stanzas, each with four lines also know as a quatrain. Also, every stanza in the first and third line contains iambic tetrameter and the second and fourth line having iambic trimeter. Many of the lines in the poem also have dashed to break up the flow of the meter and indicate short pauses. The first stanza of the poem starts with the speaker describing their death first talking about how death hears the sound of a fly, as it flies through the air in the silent room. The very first line of the poem informs the reader that the experience in this poem is being described from a unique and strange point of view. When first reading this poem you can tell that this won 't be a typical elegy, because from the very first line the

Memories of certain events can lead to a deeper understanding of literature. As you read all types of unalike literature you will start to see recurrences of what you have read already in the past. When readers

the theme of death. The speaker of the poems talks about the loss of a

Theodore Roethke, a prominent poet during the mid-1900s, was greatly influenced by his childhood experiences of being raised near a greenhouse and his psychological condition of manic depression (Long 4: 1387). Roethke’s poetry can be described to have a spiritual undertone because of his experiences. His poetry focuses on the quest for spiritual identity through mostly the use of natural materials. Roethke was able to become a distinguished poet because of his unique experiences. Roethke’s poetry is appreciated by diverse individuals because of his usage of everyday affairs, presentation of clichéd themes, and his variance in mood, while the underlying theme in his poetry is the diminishing of the differences between spiritual and naturalistic materials.