Theodore Roethke Sacrifice

“I want to photosynthesize” (Theodore Roethke). Representing the parallels between photosynthesizing and growth, transcendentalist poet Theodore Huebner Roethke focuses on the experiences he has with the symbolic greenhouse, which his childhood centers on, in Saginaw, Michigan. The American poet illustrates the association of nature with freedom in the coming of age poem “Child On top of a Greenhouse. The poem involves a persona that is breaking free of the confinement of the greenhouse; a child admiring nature from the top of a greenhouse. Exploring Roethke’s attachment to his father’s greenhouse, this poem demonstrates the use of vivid natural imagery, jovial tone and strategic symbolism to address the natural human impulse for freedom of expression and a liberating coming of age journey.
Transcendental imagery successfully highlights the instinct for freedom
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