Theodore Roethke Biography
Period 5
2/21/11
Theodore Roethke: Impact on Literature There are many influential aspects of life such as a person 's childhood, family, or career just to name a few. What makes these effects so influential is their impact on everyday habits and important decisions people have to make. Poets are no exception to this same idea. In fact, the events that affect the poet 's life can be seen through his or her writings. Theodore Roethke, a twentieth century poet, is a great example of this concept. Along with many other influences, one could argue that the three most influential aspects of the life and time of Theodore Roethke were his childhood greenhouse, his physical and mental health, and the literary period during which he wrote. Theodore Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan where his parents owned a local greenhouse along with his uncle (Seager 6). He began to teach at various schools such as Harvard and Lafayette College, but once the Great Depression came he was forced to leave them behind (71). Roethke was hospitalized for what would be a reoccurring mental illness. In 1923, his father died of cancer and around the same time his uncle committed suicide. He went on to marry Beatrice O 'Connell in 1953 and ten years later in 1963, he suffered from a fatal heart attack and died (104). During the last years of his life he composed 61 award-winning, new poems that are still fairly popular to this day (87). The greenhouse of Roethke 's childhood would prove to have a substantial impact on his writings later on in life. He wrote in his poetry, "the greenhouse is my symbol for the whole of life, a womb, a heaven-on-earth"(Kramer 22). Among his earlier poems, the most interesting and more noticed are those which evoke his childhood, his life as the son of a florist (Carruth 25). Babette Deutsch stated, "His work gains from the fact that his childhood was intimately bound up with the life of a Michigan greenhouse, which, physically and otherwise, was to
2/21/11
Theodore Roethke: Impact on Literature There are many influential aspects of life such as a person 's childhood, family, or career just to name a few. What makes these effects so influential is their impact on everyday habits and important decisions people have to make. Poets are no exception to this same idea. In fact, the events that affect the poet 's life can be seen through his or her writings. Theodore Roethke, a twentieth century poet, is a great example of this concept. Along with many other influences, one could argue that the three most influential aspects of the life and time of Theodore Roethke were his childhood greenhouse, his physical and mental health, and the literary period during which he wrote. Theodore Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan where his parents owned a local greenhouse along with his uncle (Seager 6). He began to teach at various schools such as Harvard and Lafayette College, but once the Great Depression came he was forced to leave them behind (71). Roethke was hospitalized for what would be a reoccurring mental illness. In 1923, his father died of cancer and around the same time his uncle committed suicide. He went on to marry Beatrice O 'Connell in 1953 and ten years later in 1963, he suffered from a fatal heart attack and died (104). During the last years of his life he composed 61 award-winning, new poems that are still fairly popular to this day (87). The greenhouse of Roethke 's childhood would prove to have a substantial impact on his writings later on in life. He wrote in his poetry, "the greenhouse is my symbol for the whole of life, a womb, a heaven-on-earth"(Kramer 22). Among his earlier poems, the most interesting and more noticed are those which evoke his childhood, his life as the son of a florist (Carruth 25). Babette Deutsch stated, "His work gains from the fact that his childhood was intimately bound up with the life of a Michigan greenhouse, which, physically and otherwise, was to
Bibliography: in The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry. Vol. 2. N.p.: n.p., 2007 Deutsch, Babette, ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism. 2nd ed. Vol. 15. 1963. Print Kramer, Hilton, and Hayden Carruth. "Idiom Is Personal." Poetry of Theodore Roethke 18 (Winter 1954): 14, 131-46 Carruth, Hayden. "Requiem for God 's Gardner." Nation 8 ser. 199 (Sept. 1964): 168-169 Temple, Cone. " 'Weed Puller. '" N.p., 2007. . Rpt. in Bloom 's Literary Reference Online Waltz, by Theodore Roethke. Helium. Helium, Inc., 2002-2011. Web. 20 Jan McGraw-Hill, 1968. Print.