Theodore Roethke Quotes
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Theodore Huebner Roethke was an American poet. Roethke is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation.Roethke's work is characterized by its introspection, rhythm and natural imagery. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book The Waking, and he won the annual National Book Award for Poetry twice, in 1959 for Words for the Wind and posthumously in 1965 for The Far Field.In the November 1968 edition of The Atlantic Monthly, former U.S. Poet Laureate and author James Dickey wrote Roethke was "in my opinion the greatest poet this country has yet produced."Roethke was also a highly regarded poetry teacher. He taught at University of Washington for fifteen years. His students from that period won two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and two others were nominated for the award. "He was probably the best poetry-writing teacher ever," said poet Richard Hugo, who studied under Roethke. Wikipedia

✵ 25. May 1908 – 1. August 1963

Theodore Roethke: 86 quotes 1 like

Theodore Roethke Quotes

“I always felt mean, jogging back over the logging road,
As if I had broken the natural order of things in that swampland;
Disturbed some rhythm, old and of vast importance,
By pulling off flesh from the living planet;
As if I had committed, against the whole scheme of life, a desecration.”

Theodore Roethke

"Moss-Gathering," ll. 9-13
The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)

Life , Nature

“You must believe: a poem is a holy thing — a good poem, that is.”

Theodore Roethke

Poetry and Craft (1965)

“Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.”

Theodore Roethke The Waking

The Waking (1953), The Waking

Love , Nature , Learning

“And soon a branch, part of a hidden scene,
The leafy mind, that long was tightly furled,
Will turn its private substance into green,
And young shoots spread upon our inner world.”

Theodore Roethke

"The Light Comes Brighter," ll. 17-20
Open House (1941)

World , Parting

“I lived with deep roots once:
Have I forgotten their ways —
The gradual embrace
Of lichen around stones?”

Theodore Roethke

"Plaint," ll. 13-16
Words for the Wind (1958)

Way

“A lively understandable spirit
Once entertained you.
It will come again.
Be still.
Wait.”

Theodore Roethke

The Lost Son," ll. 168-172
The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)

Understanding , Waiting

“Being, not doing, is my first joy.”

Theodore Roethke book The Far Field

"The Abyss," l. 100
The Far Field (1964)

Joy

“Yet for this we travelled
With hope, and not alone,
In the country of ourselves,
In a country of bright stone.”

Theodore Roethke

"The Harsh Country," ll. 13-16
Prevously Uncollected Poems (1975)

Hope , Travel , Country

“Nothing would give up life:
Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.”

Theodore Roethke

"Root Cellar," ll. 10-11
The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)

Life

“There's an element of desperation in the insistence of the graduate student's respect for knowledge — as opposed to wisdom.”

Theodore Roethke

Source: Poetry and Craft (1965), p. 95

Wisdom , Knowledge

“The wasp waits.
The edge cannot eat the center.
The grape listens.
The path tells little to the serpent.
An eye comes out of the wave.
The journey from flesh is longest.
A rose sways least.
The redeemer comes a dark way.”

Theodore Roethke

"The Shape of the Fire," ll. 56-63
The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)

Way , Waiting

“This urge, wrestle, resurrection of dry sticks,
Cut stems struggling to put down feet,
What saint strained so much,
Rose on such lopped limbs to a new life?”

Theodore Roethke

"Cuttings (later)," ll. 1-4
The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)

Life

“Mother of quartz, your words writhe into my ear.
Renew the light, lewd whisper.”

Theodore Roethke

"The Shape of the Fire," ll. 54 - 55
The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)

Light

“God bless the roots!”

Theodore Roethke book The Far Field

Body and soul are one!
The small become the great, the great the small;
The right thing happens to the happy man.
"The Right Thing," ll. 7-9
The Far Field (1964)

God

“Is pain a promise? I was schooled in pain,
And found out what I could of all desire;
I weep for what I'm like when I'm alone
In the deep center of the voice and fire.I know the motion of the deepest stone.
Each one's himself, yet each one's everyone.”

Theodore Roethke

"The Sententious Man," ll. 31-36
Words for the Wind (1958)

School , Pain