Theodore Roethke Essay -- modern American poetry

Theodore RoethkeRoethke was a great poet, the successor to Frost and St purges in new-fashioned American poetry, and it is the measure of his greatness that his work repays detailed examination (Parini 1). Theodore Roethke was a romantic who wrote in a variety of styles throughout his long successful c atomic number 18er. However, it was not the form of his verse that was important, but the message being delivered and the general theme of the work. Roethke was a deep thinker and often pondered about and reflected on his life. This introspection was the topic of much of his poetry. His analysis of his self and his emotional experiences are often expressed in his verse. According to Ralph J. Mills Jr., this self hobby was the primary matter of artistic exploration and knowledge, an interest which endows the poems with a mavin of personal urgency, even necessity (Contemporary Authors 476).Roethke was born in 1908 in Saginaw, nautical mile to Otto Roethke and Helen Huebner. He demonstrated early promise in a exit Cross campaign speech as a high train freshman. This speech was translated into twenty-six different languages and showed that he had talent and potential even at a young age. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of myocardial infarction in 1929, and was pressured to move on to law school by family members. However, he was not interested in law and dropped out in stray to take graduate courses in literature at Harvard University. Allan Seager concluded, it was more than an unsuppressible sensation of life that led him to choose poetry as a life (Contemporary Authors 475). He took up various teaching positions afterwards at colleges including Lafayette College, pappa State University, Bennington College, and final... ...uminaries who had an effect on his writing were Leonie Adams, Emily Dickinson, Rolfe Humphries, Stanley Kunitz, and Emily Wylie (1). At the University of Washington, Roethke found quick protgs in Carol yn Kizer, David Wagoner, and James Wright (Kalaidjian 2). He is well cognize for his influence on this subsequent generation of award-winning poets.Works CitedParini, J. Roethke, Theodore. put up Biographical Dictionary. Ed. Melanie Perry. New York Larousse Kingfisher Chambers Inc, 1997 1584.Roethke, Theodore. Encarta 2002. CD-ROM. Redmond, WA Microsoft 2002.Roethke, Theodore (Huebner). Contemporary Authors. Volumes 81-84. Ed. Francis Carol Locher. Detroit Gale question Company, 1979 475-479.Theodore Roethkes Life and Career. Walter Kalaidjian. 1999.