Roethke, Theodore

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A Permanent Poet
A Blaze of Being
Hypnotizing, mesmerizing, spellbinding... perfect.
an american master
A Kingdom of Stinks and Sighs

The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385086016
Release Date: 1974-12-01

Book Description

This paperback edition contains the complete text of Roethke's seven published volumes plus sixteen previously uncollected poems. Included are his Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners The Walking, Words for the Wind, and The Far Field.

Customer Reviews:

A Permanent Poet.......2006-11-08

I relished Roethke when I first read him in high school, along with Hart Crane, e.e. cummings, and the Beats. I still admired him in college, when I wrote poetry myself, and regarded most other "living" poets with suspicious disdain. Many poets I loved then have lost some of their charm for me (my loss, not theirs) but, forty five years later, I still read Roethke. Does that speak to you?

A Blaze of Being.......2006-01-21

"A late rose ravages the casual eye," writes Roethke in A Walk in Late Summer, "a blaze of being on a central stem." In such images we see the symbols of nature fully tapped in modern poetry -- and tapped in American English, in fresh, vivid language that overpowers the reader with its grace and presence. The poetry of Theodore Roethke is written by a man profoundly alive -- skirting the edge of suicide, losing his voice in the awe of love, reeling wildly in the throes of "the pure fury," and looking at last with calm eyes into infinity and his own undoing in the Far Field. Roethke was a true descendent of Whitman where the latter wrote "This is no book / Who touches this touches a man." But Roethke's poetry moves us as much by its lyrical language as by the power and wisdom of its experience. Roethke himself was, as represented by his art alone, a "blaze of being."

Among Roethke's contributions to literature are his poems that treat depression. Far from letting his manic episodes paralyze him, he used them to write some his most intense poetry. "In a Dark Time" is one of the immortal poems of the 20th century, worthy to be set aside a Van Gogh painting. Roethke was not alone in treating these subjects: two other Pulitzer Prize-winning poets of his time, Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, learned from him and wrote about similar themes. But Roethke's writing stands out in two ways from these poets and other poets the 50's and 60's.

One is the unity of his work and vision -- this Collected Poems traces a single spiritual journey beginning with his childhood memories of the greenhouse, and ending somewhere among "the windy cliffs of forever", last visions tragically cut short by his early death. Between those points are rendered all of the experiences of his life -- as he wrote in his first poem, "my heart keeps open-house." But he never fails to interpret these experiences and understand their significance in the larger picture of his life and poetry. Unlike so much of the poetry of Sylvia Plath and other Confessional poets, Roethke never demands that you read his biography to understand his symbolism. Rather, his symbols develop among his poems to form a kind of mythology: his recurring symbols include stones, fire, light, "the small," and the spirit.

The other difference between Roethke and other poets of his time is his technique. Roethke is never obscure; he always writes in fresh language, avoiding cliches, although his symbols are indeed personal and take time to understand. Roethke's craft is "strict and pure," such that even the staunchest defenders of Sylvia Plath have confessed that Roethke's writing is more disciplined. The Deep Image movement of poets like Robert Bly and James Wright is influenced by the kind of symbolism found throughout Roethke's poetry, and those writers have acknowledged their debt to him. Roethke retained rhyme and meter in a time when all the conventions of poetry were being ripped apart; and he did so with a consummate technical skill not to be found in the Beatniks or in the Black Mountain poets. Roethke's ear for poetry is much more sensitive than that of other poets of his time. We are gagged by the lyricism in lines like

"She came toward me in the flowing air,
A shape of change, encircled by its fire."
("The Dream")

"When all
My waterfall
Fancies sway away
From me, in the sea's silence..."
("Her Time")

"O love, you who hear
The slow tick of time
In your sea-buried ear..."
("Song")

The most exhilarating of all these are Roethke's love poems in "Words for the Wind", which justly won the Bollingen Prize and the National Book Award. These poems are unmatched for eloquence and spiritual intensity -- and it's a damn shame that modern anthologies do not reprint them, aside from the famous "I Knew a Woman." For it is in these love poems that Roethke's soul soars, and his poetic power is fully realized.

"She knew the grammar of least motion."
("The Dream")

"Light listened when she sang."
("Light Listened")

"I measure time by how a body sways."
("I Knew a Woman").

Theodore Roethke achieved greatness in art by having the courage to confront the most intense human experiences and the skill to craft them into some of the most eloquent poems of his time. If there is ONE modern poet you will read, let it be Roethke. His "Collected Poems" is a must for every poet and every lover of poetry.

Hypnotizing, mesmerizing, spellbinding... perfect........2004-10-12

At first, I was heitant to delve into this author's work simply because I'd never heard of him in all my wide readings of poetry, both modern and old.

Don't make the same mistake I did. Roethke WILL NOT disappoint you. "The Lost Son" has become my new favourite poem, and this book goes with me perpetually, and will until I finish every line in it.

Exquisite.

an american master.......2004-08-15

To My Sister; The Heron; No Bird; Elegy for Jane; She; Her Reticence; The Meadow Mouse; and of course, My Papa's Waltz--these are all some of the great poems that Theodore Roethke wrote. Roethke is one of our American masters. I found that when he was on his game (as he was in the poems above, among others) his poetry was phenomenal, but when he wasn't, his poetry could be awful. His earlier work is better than his later work, though he seems to have gotten most of his recognition for his later work. Still, for the poetry lover this is pretty much a required volume for your shelves.

A Kingdom of Stinks and Sighs.......2003-07-27

I love Roethke and I can't stop loving him. His words, phrases, rhythms, thoughts, feelings and meditations stick with me. I will go a year or two without reading his work, but he is still there shaping the way I see the world. His poetry occupies the same space in my mind as Brian Eno's transcendent work On Land. It's meditative, quiet, and joyful and yet, sweaty, ominous, and alarming, all at the same time.

The Far Field (North American Sequence) incarnates this feeling for me. Roethke meditates on his own mortality (don't all poets?) and finds a vast encompassing love for life. A love not only for the "growing rose," but also, seemingly for the summer heat and the stench of dead buffalo, "their damp fur drying in the sun." He sees beauty in nature but also "redolent disorder" and he calls life "This ambush, this silence."

I agree with him.

Roethke proclaims a love for life which is similar to Nietzsche's concept of the Eternal Recurring. That is, he has learned to love life, the good and the evil, to such an extent that he would have it recur again and again, eternally. This kind of love is not a love for evil, rather it is a willingness to sit behind the window of one's pain and still look out and see the beauty. This takes great courage.

Roethke's influences are obvious. What American poet could escape Whitman and his lineage, Thoreau, Henry Miller, etc.? I'm sure he read his fair share of Nietzsche. I also note, Roethke's style seems to have changed drastically towards the end of his life. I believe this was probably partly in reaction to the Beats. However, in my opinion he swallows the Beats whole and makes something new of them. Roethke's verse also periodically has the ring of Wallace Stevens, and sometimes Robert Frost. Some of his verses sound like bad seventies self-help schtick; "I long for the imperishable quiet at the heart of form," etc.

I only go into these criticisms so I can make a larger point. Roethke's metaphors are sometimes, seemingly, larger than their implication, sometimes they are derivative, sometimes clunky. But, his work, for me, has an almost Biblical air to it. By this I mean his work resonates on a mythological level. His ideas are broad and go to the heart without ignoring the blood and stench of life. At the same time, yes, his ideas are broad, however, his details, while often being merely enumerative, are true. By this I mean, they come from a real eye roving across a real landscape. He is, at once, strange and familiar.

I would hope that Academia would catch up with Roethke. It seems that he is being unfairly ignored.

Words for the Wind. Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke
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Words for the Wind. Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NUP9DU

Theodore Roethke: Selected Poems: Selected Poems (American Poets Project)
Average customer rating:

Beautiful Edition of Roethke's work

Theodore Roethke: Selected Poems: Selected Poems (American Poets Project)
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Edition of Roethke's work.......2007-01-04

I replaced an earlier collection of Roethke with this one. I like the binding and it will last until my children's children. I have been passionate about his work (went to the Univ of WA to be near him) since the very early sixties, and re-reading today find the poems stronger still, seeing them in a light that resonates with the earthiness that I feel calls to all of us. He used raw, earthen, everyday experience as metaphor for life emotions. Great book, nice collector's edition.

Hammond World Atlas (Hammond Atlas of the World)

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A great gift.
New is not necessarily better
No flags
One of the best atlases
Atlas of the World by Hammond

Hammond World Atlas (Hammond Atlas of the World)
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: Hammond World Atlas Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0843718366

Book Description

The new Hammond World Atlas, Fourth Edition is completely updated. It features an exciting new map style with enhanced relief that makes topographic features leap off the page. It has a beautiful new cover design and compelling new thematic articles. One hundred twenty totally new content pages make it the perfect tool for exploring and understanding the world in which we live. Enhanced Terra-Scape maps featuring hypsometric and bathymetric tints vividly display land and ocean floor terrain. Sixty-four new pages of complelling articles on a variety of global concerns are accompanied by stunning global concerns are accompanied by stunning photographic and thematic maps, tables and graphs. Forty-eight new pages of breathtaking satellite imagery with interpretive text add further understanding to the earth and its surface. It's easy to use with 110,000-entry.

Customer Reviews:

A great gift........2007-01-12

I bought this Atlas for my son for Christmas. I wish I had gotten one for myself. It has beautiful pictures and is full of other interesting and educational information you don't find in other books of this kind.
The Atlas was received very promptly and as usual Amazon gave me a great price for this product. Thank you Amazon.

New is not necessarily better.......2005-08-22

I was hoping to get an up-to-date version of the Hammond International World Atlas (1973), with the same format but with the many changes that have made the old atlas obselete. I found it very convenient to have the cities, counties, departments, etc, pertaining to a country to be in the same location as the map. The new format, with all names listed in the back, is not very handy. I miss the topographical maps, which were much more useful than the aerial photos now included. My request: If you ever go back to the old format, let me know and I will order immediately, and give my new atlas to the grandchildren.

No flags.......2004-12-04

If you're looking for illustrations of country flags, as I was, you can skip this atlas. There are none. Zero. I have to refer to my 1988 Hammond Atlas to see flags, and that is largely outdated.

Otherwise it's a good atlas. High quality maps and other useful information. Best value for the money, if you don't care to see country flags.

One of the best atlases.......2004-03-22

The Hammond World Atlas is one of the best atlases available - and at a reasonable price. It is computer-generated and is one of the most colorful atlases. The shading is also exceptionally accurate and amazing. The satellite section shows a variety of environments, and they are all large, clear, and colorful. The cities are labeled by population, a useful feature. The thematic section is also quite fun to read. The map projections and relief are extremely consistent. Depending on your needs, either the Oxford or Hammond is the best one for you, or buy them both!

Atlas of the World by Hammond.......2003-11-16

This is an excellent atlas. It contains full-color maps with
important segmented areas to depict mountains, rivers etc.
There is a separate section on the standard of living in various
areas of the world, literacy by region, energy/resources,
regional climate and a panoramic map of the whole world.
This atlas contains a wealth of information in an easy-to-read
format.

Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke

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Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Creativity is Hard to Teach
So much potential
Drunk on Himself

On Poetry and Craft
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: Copper Canyon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 155659156X

Book Description

"One of the virtues of good poetry is the fact that it irritates the mediocre."

Theodore Roethke was one of the most famous and outspoken poets and poetry teachers this country has ever known. In this volume of selected prose, Roethke articulates his commitments to imaginative possibilities, offers tender advice to young writers, and zings darts at stuffed shirts, lightweights and fools.

"Art is our defense against hysteria and death."

With the assistance of Roethke's widow, this volume has been edited to include the finest selections from out of print collections of prose and journal entries. Focused on the making and teaching of poetry,On Poetry and Craft will be prized in the classroom-and outrageous Roethke quotes will once again pepper our conversations.

"You must believe a poem is a holy thing, a good poem, that is."

<B>Theodore Roethke</B> was of an illustrious generation of poets which included Sexton, Plath, Lowell, Berryman, and like them he received nearly every major award in poetry, including the Pulitzer Prize and twice the National Book Award. In spite of his fame, he remained a legendary teacher, known for the care and attention he gave to his students, poets such as James Wright, Carolyn Kizer, Tess Gallagher, and Richard Hugo. Roethke died on August 1, 1963, while swimming in a friend's pool.

"But before I'm reduced to an absolute pulp by my own ambivalence, I must say goodbye. The old lion perisheth. Nymphs, I wish you the swoops of many fish. May your search for the abiding be forever furious."

<B>On Poetry and Craft</B>

I am overwhelmed by the beautiful disorder of poetry, the eternal virginity of words.

The poem, even a short time after being written, seems no miracle; unwritten, it seems something beyond the capacity of the gods.

We can't escape what we are, and I'm afraid many of my notions about verse (I haven't too many) have been conditioned by the fact that for nearly 25 years I've been trying to teach the young something about the nature of verse by writing it--and that with very little formal knowledge of the subject or previous instruction. So it's going to be lik

Customer Reviews:

Creativity is Hard to Teach.......2005-11-13

I found the poet's thoughts quite helpful and not as self-indulgent as other reviewers. I think Roethke also considered himself to be an artist at teaching as well as at writing. His was not a case of "those cannot do, teach". He established a style of relating and conveying materials to students with many years of success. Most importantly, no teacher can instruct how to be a good or great writer. Every instructor in the arts faces this dilemma.
I found Roethke's thoughts to have much merit. They aren't obtrusive or intrusive just a catch as catch can if they have meaning for the reader.

So much potential.......2002-12-19

I bought this book because I admire Roethke's poetry. Unfortunately the best and most interesting part of the book is the excellent foreword written by Carolyn Kizer. She manages to bring him alive - as a teacher, not just as a poet - gives a sense of the enormous excitement that the members of "that extraordinary class of '55" (including Kizer, James Wright, and Jack Gilbert) must have felt. You finish reading the introduction feeling a huge sense of anticipation ... and that's about it.

Roethke on himself is uninteresting. Ego, a couple of aphorisms, some examples (which are worth paying attention to - pity you're struggling to stay awake at this point) and a lot of the sort of waffle that he, by his own repeated insistence, would have completely rejected in poetry. Oh, and a fair bit of cattiness - see the chapter "A Tirade Turning" (what were people thinking when they included this? And why?)

The worst thing about this book is its unevenness. If it was all poorly/boringly/self-indulgently written, then you would be able to dismiss it as the work of someone who "wasn't any good at writing about writing". But then he comes out with sections like "Some notes on rhythm"; one of the most lucid explanations of rhythm effects that I have yet come across.

All in all? An disappointing book, if only because of the brief flashes of how much better it could have been. Too much self-indulgence, too much spite, too much self-congratulation. So much potential unrealised!

Drunk on Himself.......2002-10-24

This book is a revelation, but not the sort you might wish for. Roethke's poetry has always struck me as vaguely unsavory. It's not overwritten, grey, clumsy, sententious or sentimental; it is merely unremarkable and I am left only with an impression of the author's sense of superiority, and his distance from the reader, and more surprisingly, from his own work. What this book reveals is one possible reason for my distaste: Roethke is a pompous git.
The discriminating review reader recognizes this is all rot, impressionistic nonsense, jealousy etc. but what can we conclude from a man responsible for such measured yet meaningful proclamations as: "It's not that many Americans can't think: they just don't want to."; "Therefore I shall get on with the daily business of revelation." and "That's the horrible thing about being a genius. Everything's so obvious."
I have not committed the unpardonable sin of removing small pieces of text from a context in order to support a slapdash critique. Roethke's done that for me. There are three or four whole chapters composed in just this manner. Disconnected comments selected only for one or another Roethkian turn of phrase, but otherwise amputated from a subject; carefully composed insults that refer to no one in particular, but which he was apparently eager to save for just the right moment; moanings and groanings about the state of the world, the trials of the genius...blah, blah.
The telling fact is that these were selected from his personal notebooks-apparently by himself. He appears to have devoted considerable time and effort to preparing disparaging one-liners, grandiose statements of purpose and pale jokes for the classroom. I consider it reasonable to expect that a 'great' poet would have more in the way of great poetry to offer than any number of carefully rehearsed bon mots; and if this is the sort of thing he considers worthy of display ("Mother of God, I just invented a few sayings out of me head. Is that wicked?") I fear for what the remainder of his notebooks might contain. The best lesson an aspiring poet might learn from this book is not to listen too closely to one's teachers. Go and read Mary Oliver's very excellent book instead.

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Collected Poems
theodore roethke
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ILN1SE

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Straw for the Fire
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: Doubleday Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0385066759

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The lost son, and other poems
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: doubleday & co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Theodore Roethke Reads His Poetry
Theodore Roethke
Manufacturer: Audio-Forum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1579704026

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