The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke

"A late rose ravages the casual eye," writes Roethke in A Walk in Late Summer, "a blaze of being on a central stem." In such images we see the symbols of nature fully tapped in modern poetry -- and tapped in American English, in fresh, vivid language that overpowers the reader with its grace and presence. The poetry of Theodore Roethke is written by a man profoundly alive -- skirting the edge of suicide, losing his voice in... Read Full Review

I love Roethke and I can't stop loving him. His words, phrases, rhythms, thoughts, feelings and meditations stick with me. I will go a year or two without reading his work, but he is still there shaping the way I see the world. His poetry occupies the same space in my mind as Brian Eno's transcendent work On Land. It's meditative, quiet, and joyful and yet, sweaty, ominous, and alarming, all at the same time.The Far Field... Read Full Review

I have always been transfixed by this man's poetry. Roethke possessed a way of speaking in his poetry that was both confessional and deeply spiritual. He was beyond doubt one of the greatest American poets of the 20th Century. Some of his poems, like Journey to the Interior, The Far Field, The Lost Son, and so many others create an almost religious experience in the reader.Roethke suffered from bipolar disorder throughout... Read Full Review

This collection contains Roethke's "Words for the Wind", one of the great c20 collections by any poet. Everything Roethke touched came instantly to life. He's ignored for his classicism, so was Ravel. No matter. When it comes time to decide what a poem is, they'll turn to Roethke. The poems from Words for the Wind deal in heart stopping beauty, refinement of form, and the pleasures of a uniquely great mind in play. Dont miss... Read Full Review

Theodore Roethke lived a life of inner turmoil and often outward beauty, from growing up on his father's farm to teaching at Bennington College and suffering mental illness, his poems at once recognize the yearning for more than the worldly as well as the beauty and tragedy of the physical beings we are. His children's poems (not only for children) bring an Ogden Nash-esque primitive and humorous view that makes these themes... Read Full Review