POET
Theodore Roethke (1908 - 1963)
BIOGRAPHY
Many of Theodore Roethke's (1908-1963) finest poems evoke the plant and insect life he knew intimately growing up in Michigan around the greenhouses of his family’s floral business. Troubled throughout adulthood by mental instability and alcoholism, he often dwells on his psyche’s vulnerability, but also shows a deft comic touch in treating familial and erotic relationships. From 1948 until his death, he was a legendary teacher at the University of Washington; his posthumous collection The Far Field won the 1964 National Book Award.
AUDIO
Essential American Poets
Theodore Roethke: Essential American Poets
Archival recordings of Theodore Roethke, with an introduction to his life and work. Recorded 1950s, YMHA Poetry Center, New York, NY. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Poems of the Day
Big Wind
Child on top of a Greenhouse
Elegy for Jane
My Papa's Waltz
My Papa's Waltz
The Sloth
Poetry Off the Shelf
The Mama and the Papa
Hear Gwendolyn Brooks read "the mother" and Theodore Roethke read "My Papa's Waltz," with insights by ex-US Poet Laureate Donald Hall.
