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A poem that explores the themes of life, death, and existence through the metaphors of sleep and waking. The poet questions his fate, his being, and his relationship with nature and God.
- Stanza One
- Stanza Two
- Stanza Three
- Stanza Four
- Stanza Five
- Stanza Six
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The opening stanza starts with the speaker engaging readers in the first person and introduces the initial paradoxof the poem. A person waking to sleep is a contradictory feeling to experience. The statement can be interpreted in two ways: either the speaker is awake and simply feels as if he is still asleep, operating almost robotically, or he tak...
Much like stanza 1, stanza 2 also opens with a paradox. The speaker is stating that people’s logical thoughts come out of their feelings—which most people view as a contradiction. Of course, humans are emotional since they experience feelings. But they can also be rational, or logical, at times. However, asserting that feelings are a result of logi...
This stanza starts off with the speaker asking a personal question, to both himself and the reader. It’s possible that the speaker is either with somebody as he contemplates this line, or taking a close look at the reader, since the speaker of the poemcannot function without a reader. Or, it is possible that the speaker is asking the reader to cons...
We’ve moved from the association with the ground now to a higher level, the light, and the trees, which introduces nature into the poem besides the dirt. The capital “T” of tree also suggests that this tree is something special, perhaps the Tree of Life. The question “who can tell us how?” implies the mysteries that God has in nature, and that to u...
We get the sense that through the process of always learning through everyday requirements, the speaker is always obtaining knowledge and thus waking up. He knows that nature will eventually create his end, as well as the reader’s end, with death, which is why he is again suggesting that people cherish the moments of their lives. The repeat of the ...
The “shaking” the speaker suggests could refer to love, the many difficulties of life, or even Roethke’s own mental challenges (since Roethke suffered from mental breakdowns). Either way, the comment “I should know” means again that the speaker is speaking from his life experience and the lessons he learned, which were already covered in the poem. ...
A poem that explores life's paradoxes and learning through nature's imagery. The speaker wakes to sleep, thinks by feeling, and learns by going where he has to go, while questioning the mysteries of nature and life.
Learn about the themes, symbols, and poetic devices of "The Waking," a villanelle by American poet Theodore Roethke. The poem reflects on the unknowability of the future, the value of feeling and intuition, and the beauty of nature.
Nov 4, 2023 · 'The Waking' is an enigmatic villanelle written in 1953, a year after the author got married. In it, the poet puts forward various ideas about life and how to live it, all within the traditional rhyming and iambic pentameter form.
The poem's structure, with its repeated line "I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow," suggests a circularity and a cyclical nature of growth and transformation. It echoes the Romantic era's emphasis on individuality, intuition, and the power of nature.
A poem of 19 lines in villanelle form, The Waking explores the circularity of life and death, and the continuity of life after death. The poet uses metaphors of tree, stair, and worm to convey the themes of nature, fate, and essence.
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