Root cellar
Chad Dunn
Instructor Stewart
English 2130
26 November 2011
Roles of Literary Elements in Root Cellar Theodore Roethke is a writer that had to go through many hardships throughout his life, but where he dealt with his hardships would eventually lead him to write some of the most successful and inspirational poetry such as Root Cellar (Balakian 4). As Peter Balakian says in Theodore Roethke 's Far Fields: The Evolution of His Poetry, “His father’s twenty-five acres of greenhouses in the Saginaw Valley and the hothouse world of peat moss, plant cuttings, carnations, roses, cyclamen, and compost organisms was the loamy place out of which he would shape his mind and delve into his psychic and familial past.” This quote shows that plant life and gardening had much meaning to Theodore Roethke. Overall, Theodore Roethke’s use of imagery and personification in Root Cellar gives society a different way to look at life. In “Root Cellar”, the large amount of imagery allows readers to build their senses in order to understand the true meaning of this poem. At the beginning of the poem, it starts out by saying, “Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch” ("Famous Poets and poems"). Usually when people imagine a cellar, they think about a dark and lifeless room that is usually creepy, but for Theodore Roethke it is seen differently. As the poem continues, it eventually says, “Shoots dangled and drooped, / Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates, / Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes” ("Famous Poets and poems"). This lets the reader form a view of new plant life that is growing wild from a moist and moldy source. Through the next few lines, the author continues to provide excellent imagery by combining the mental image that the reader forms, and the sense of smell. In the poem it states, “Roots ripe as old bait, / Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich, / Leaf-mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks” ("Famous Poets and poems"). From this,
Instructor Stewart
English 2130
26 November 2011
Roles of Literary Elements in Root Cellar Theodore Roethke is a writer that had to go through many hardships throughout his life, but where he dealt with his hardships would eventually lead him to write some of the most successful and inspirational poetry such as Root Cellar (Balakian 4). As Peter Balakian says in Theodore Roethke 's Far Fields: The Evolution of His Poetry, “His father’s twenty-five acres of greenhouses in the Saginaw Valley and the hothouse world of peat moss, plant cuttings, carnations, roses, cyclamen, and compost organisms was the loamy place out of which he would shape his mind and delve into his psychic and familial past.” This quote shows that plant life and gardening had much meaning to Theodore Roethke. Overall, Theodore Roethke’s use of imagery and personification in Root Cellar gives society a different way to look at life. In “Root Cellar”, the large amount of imagery allows readers to build their senses in order to understand the true meaning of this poem. At the beginning of the poem, it starts out by saying, “Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch” ("Famous Poets and poems"). Usually when people imagine a cellar, they think about a dark and lifeless room that is usually creepy, but for Theodore Roethke it is seen differently. As the poem continues, it eventually says, “Shoots dangled and drooped, / Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates, / Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes” ("Famous Poets and poems"). This lets the reader form a view of new plant life that is growing wild from a moist and moldy source. Through the next few lines, the author continues to provide excellent imagery by combining the mental image that the reader forms, and the sense of smell. In the poem it states, “Roots ripe as old bait, / Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich, / Leaf-mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks” ("Famous Poets and poems"). From this,
Cited: Balakian, Peter. Theodore Rothke. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999. Print. McRoberts , Patrick. "History Link: The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History." Roethke, Theodore (1908-1963). Seattle: History Link, 2003. Web. 18 Nov 2011. <http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?displaypage=output.cfm&file_id=5410>. "Theodore Roethke Poems." Famous Poets and poems. USPS, Saint Lucia, n.d. Web. 18 Nov 2011. <http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/about_project.html>.