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Theodore Roethke

            An important author during this modern time period was Theodore Roethke. "Roethke grew up in the midst of fecundities" (Baird 1772). His father was a prominent figure in his life. "He was only fourteen when his father died in 1922, dealing his son a wound and sense of unfullfillment that Roethke was able to relieve only near the end of his life" (Baird 1776). "His ambivalent relationship with is father was strong" (The Short Story 763). Roethke would later incorporate his life into his writings. "Roethke's childhood was an early experience that would impact his future writing" (Brinnin 631). "Roethke's experiences in the natural environment of his fathers greenhouses as a them" (Baird 1775).
             As an adult, Roethke taught English. "Teaching English farther aided in the development of his writing" (The Short Story 763). The stryle of writing centered upon the aspects of the rest of the world around him. "His innovation of more recent poetic tradition showed that he was aware of the problems of his own time and his use of poetry to grapple with his own emotional and psychic distress reaffirms the role of poetry as a regenerative and healing agent" (Baird 1782). His writings reflect the time period. "Roethke seems to fling his humanity defiantly in the face of all hours leering out from contemporary life" (The Age of Uncertainty 1940).
             "Roethke uses the contemporary attitude that engulfs the society he lives in to create a them for his writing" (The Age of Uncertainty 1941). Roethke also incorporated his feelings about his father into his writing. "Subconsciously, he believed that he had a debt to his father, which he had to repay" (Baird 1783). "The feelings Roethke had were expressed in the poems after his fathers death as he attempts to recreated the subjective essence of his coming of age in all of its vivid imagery" (The Short Story 1763). It seems that Roethke was searching for something.


Essays Related to Theodore Roethke

1. My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke

Professor Emeritus John McKenna has a critical essay of Theodore Roethke's poem, "My Papa's Waltz", which he analyzes and points out the different ways that people read the poem. ... Roethke's poem is constructed in four stanzas using a precise selection of words that have both literal and figurative meanings. ... Roethke's selection of words emphasize that the action shows a happy family time. ... (qtd. in Roethke, Theodore. ... In his poem, "My Papa's Waltz," Theodore Roethke writes: "The hand that held my wrist, Was battered on one knuckl...

  • Word Count: 612
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Theodore Roethke

"My Papa's Waltz," by Theodore Roethke depicts a father's rough behavior towards his young son. ... By using such a delicate word to reflect these events, Roethke may be telling the reader that it is only an amusement between father and son. ... This is further proof of Roethke's intention of showing that the father is a man with good heart, but is unable to give his son gentle love. ... In these two lines, Roethke emphasizes the mother's understanding for the child as a contradiction to his father's misjudgment of the circumstances. ... Roethke seems to present the ...

  • Word Count: 932
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Explication of theodore roethke's

Theodore Roethke is Michigan native poet who grew up around his father's greenhouse. ... In his poem "Cuttings" Roethke the flower in the poem goes through death and rebirth. ... This description is used because Roethke has such a great background with nature but many mammals that give birth have slippery deliveries. ... Roethke's "Cuttings (later") is purely about rebirth. ...

  • Word Count: 712
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Theodore Roethke's My Papa's Waltz" : Abuse or Play?

I first thought of "My Papa's Waltz- by Theodore Roethke as a disturbing portrayal of a father beating his child, despite it's playful form, which imitates the cadence of a waltz in the meter of its stanzas very well. ... Roethke's use of very strong and powerful language and words such as "death-, "beat- as well as "battered- directs the reader's mind into expecting the poem's content to be violent. ... In conclusion we may say that, depending on how you look at "waltz-, as a metaphor for a fight or simply a description of a playful, dance-like action, Theodore Roet...

  • Word Count: 660
  • Approx Pages: 3

5. My Papa's Waltz - Perception and Reality

Theodore Roethke "My Papa's Waltz" can be used as an example of this theory. ... In this poem Theodore Roethke finagles our emotions with his literary conventions. ... To determine the true understanding of this poem the reader must first learn the background of Theodore Roethke's childhood and what all he remembers of his father. ... These were attempts to "free" himself and not be known as the son of his father, but to be known as Theodore Roethke. ... At the end of the day Theodore Roethke asserts "clinging to your shirt" in order to revert back to this notion...

  • Word Count: 1627
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Root Cellar

Sound Devices in the Poem "Root Cellar" Let's take a look at "Root Cellar" by Theodore Roethke, where he describes a dirty, dungeon like cellar. ... Roethke used a great deal of imagery to describe this disturbing place. ... One aspect of imagery Roethke uses is smell. ... Roethke also states manure in this poem. ... There are several times where Roethke uses this device. ...

  • Word Count: 338
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

7. "My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz," by Theodore Roethke, the speaker is talking about childhood experience that involved his father. ... and "You beat time on my head " (l. 13) might even lead the reader to think the father is abusive to the Roethke, but in reality this poem is about a father who comes home drunk but happy to where he starts to dance with his son, Roethke. It's nothing out of the ordinary than a father and son bonding with each other in a way that may seem that the father is in a way abusing Roethke. Overall, ""My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is an intriguing p...

  • Word Count: 491
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Explication- MY Papas Waltz

Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" is a fixed form poem of sixteen lines. Roethke created the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, efef, ghgh. Roethke uses this rhyme scheme to make it sound as if the poem is a waltz. ... Roethke uses a simile in the poem comparing how the boy was being dragged around while the boy thought he was dancing (3). ... Roethke uses the words "battered" and "death" to make the tone of the poem sad (3,10). ...

  • Word Count: 278
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

9. My Papa

A lot of that can be found in Theodore Roethke's poems, written back in the 40's. ... Born in a greenhouse in Michigan, Theodore expresses his infantile family memories in an extraordinary way, that brings to the readers the true feelings he had when he wrote it. ... Following these thoughts the whole idea is totally confirmed when Theodore says "We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf - (5-6). ... Not far from the main point, Theodore let the readers know that he, as a little boy, was really enjoying it. ... Concluding the analysis of "My Papa's Waltz", from the ...

  • Word Count: 540
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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