Where does the value of human life and importance of a conscience lie? This question has been at the center of copious philosophies for centuries. Famous Greek philosopher Socrates argued that, “The unexamined life is not worth living”. This quote state that being alive is worthless without a conscious and an understanding of your own life. Theodore Roethke concurs with this belief with his poem “The Waking” in Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Throughout the poem, the narrator contemplates the grand significance of his existence and the value of a conscience.
The narrator proposes the idea that there are two separate parts of human life — physical being and the conscience. The poem begins with the paradoxical line, “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow” (Line 1). Another paradox in the poem is the narrator says, “We think by feeling” (Line 4). The use of paradoxes in the poems shows the close relation between the human conscience and physical being while also painting an image of how distinct they are. The poem starts with him being consciously awake while his physical body is asleep, which allows him to ponder his existence without the interference from outer physical …show more content…
While he is contemplating the duality of life, he says, “God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there”(Line 8). He also constantly repeats the line, “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow”(Line 1). The storyteller takes the time out to literally thank God for the physical world because he acknowledges that without it there would be no human conscience, making the world that God made invaluable. Another indicator that he values life is the fact that he repeats the opening line about waking up throughout his contemplation of life. The repetition of this line throughout the poem serves to make the reader cognizant of how the narrator cherishes every moment of his waking
The narrator proposes the idea that there are two separate parts of human life — physical being and the conscience. The poem begins with the paradoxical line, “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow” (Line 1). Another paradox in the poem is the narrator says, “We think by feeling” (Line 4). The use of paradoxes in the poems shows the close relation between the human conscience and physical being while also painting an image of how distinct they are. The poem starts with him being consciously awake while his physical body is asleep, which allows him to ponder his existence without the interference from outer physical …show more content…
While he is contemplating the duality of life, he says, “God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there”(Line 8). He also constantly repeats the line, “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow”(Line 1). The storyteller takes the time out to literally thank God for the physical world because he acknowledges that without it there would be no human conscience, making the world that God made invaluable. Another indicator that he values life is the fact that he repeats the opening line about waking up throughout his contemplation of life. The repetition of this line throughout the poem serves to make the reader cognizant of how the narrator cherishes every moment of his waking