How Did Theodore Roethke Develop His Poetry

Appreciation is predominantly given to poets before the 20th century because more research and analysis has been conducted on their poetry. One exception to this is Theodore Roethke; a poet who lived from 1908 to 1968. Growing up, Roethke had a fascination with nature which would lead to his excessive use of nature as a means of communicating his ideas on human experience and existence in his poetry. When Roethke was 14, his father died of cancer and his uncle committed suicide; this contributed to Roethke’s battles with insanity which would characterize his poetry. He obtained an A.B. and M.A. from the University of Michigan and aspired to have a career in law or advertising until Robert Hillyer read some of his poetry and encouraged him to develop his writing (Malkoff 5). This led Roethke to a career of teaching English and creating poetry. He received much recognition for his literary work, including the Pulitzer Prize, Bollington Prize, and National Book award. His notable works are The Waking, The Lost Son, The Far Field, and Words for the Wind. Expectedly, his recognition came with criticism, and people questioned Roethke’s status as a rising great …show more content…
This means the poems had no quality connecting it to his other poems; thus, it would be difficult to identify a poem as his. However, Roethke developed a distinctive voice in his later works because of his extensive exploration of other poets and poetic forms. Many believe Roethke established his identity with the creation of his book The Lost Son and Other Poems, released in 1948 (“Theodore”). He became known for using natural imagery to explore human consciousness and for the subject of his work being himself and his concerns (“Theodore”). In fact, one could say Roethke mastered poetry because by the end of his career he could take any aspect of any poet or poetry and transform it into his own (Malkoff