Back Selected Poems (paperback)

Theodore Roethke: Selected Poems (paperback)

Edited by Edward Hirsch

“In his brilliant introduction, Edward Hirsch calls the Selected Poems a ‘spiritual autobiography,’ and as we chart Roethke’s development, we share in those moments of sublime ecstasy when boundaries between the self and the natural world momentarily dissolve and the poet reaches ‘the imperishable quiet at the heart of form.’ ”—The Missouri Review

Overview
Table of Contents

Overview

Expansive, dynamic, displaying an electrifying command of language and sound, Theodore Roethke’s poems pulse with a rich, seductive music. They are also audaciously honest. Writing with the courage to strip away consoling illusions, Roethke explored the depths of his inner life to create a testament to the mysteries of being. This perceptive selection by poet and critic Edward Hirsch includes well-known works such as “My Papa’s Waltz” and “The Lost Son,” as well as several of Roethke’s poems for children and a generous sampling of his notebook writings, offering a glimpse of the poet at work with the raw materials of language and ideas.

Edward Hirsch is a celebrated poet and champion for poetry and the author of several books of poetry and criticism, including How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry and The Heart of American Poetry. The recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, the Rome Prize, a Pablo Neruda Presidential Medal of Honor, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for literature, he is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

About the American Poets Project
Elegantly designed in compact editions, printed on acid-free paper, and textually authoritative, the American Poets Project makes available the full range of the American poetic accomplishment, selected and introduced by today’s most discerning poets and critics.
Table of Contents

Introduction by Edward Hirsch

from Open House (1941)
Open House
The Premonition
Mid-Country Blow
The Heron
The Bat
“Long Live the Weeds”
On the Road to Woodlawn
Highway: Michigan
Night Journey

from The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948)
Cuttings
Cuttings (later)
Root Cellar
Forcing House
Weed Puller
Orchids
Moss-Gathering
Big Wind
Old Florist
Frau Bauman, Frau Schmidt, and Frau Schwartze
Transplanting
Child on Top of a Greenhouse
Flower Dump
Carnations
My Papa’s Waltz
Pickle Belt
Dolor
Double Feature
The Return
Night Crow
River Incident
The Minimal
The Waking
The Lost Son
The Long Alley
A Field of Light
The Shape of the Fire

from Praise to the End! (1951)
Where Knock Is Open Wide
I Need, I Need
Praise to the End!
Unfold! Unfold!
I Cry, Love! Love!

from The Waking (1953)
O, Thou Opening, O
A Light Breather
Elegy for Jane
from Four for Sir John Davies: The Dance
The Waking

from Words for the Wind (1958)
Words for the Wind
I Knew a Woman
The Sententious Man
The Pure Fury
The Surly One
The Beast
A Walk in Late Summer
Snake
Slug
from Meditations of an Old Woman: First Meditation

from The Far Field (1964)
North American Sequence
     The Longing
     Meditation at Oyster River
     Journey to the Interior
     The Long Waters
     The Far Field
     The Rose
Elegy
Otto
The Meadow Mouse
Heard in a Violent Ward
The Geranium
The Storm
The Thing
from Sequence, Sometimes Metaphysical
     In a Dark Time
     The Sequel
     The Right Thing

Poems for Children
Dinky
The Cow
The Serpent
The Sloth
The Lady and the Bear
The Kitty-Cat Bird
The Whale
The Yak
The Donkey
The Hippo
The Lamb
The Lizard

Excerpts from the Notebooks

12.50 List Price: $16.95 (Save: 26%) Free shipping on orders $50 and over

Or buy from our partners

Phone orders: 1-800-964-5778 Request product #650023

ISBN: 978-1-59853-795-6 183 pages

LOA books are distributed worldwide by Penguin Random House

Related Books

Edward Hirsch: The Heart of American Poetry

Carl Sandburg: Selected Poems (paperback)

May Swenson: Collected Poems LOA N°239

Jay Parini: Robert Frost—Sixteen Poems to Learn by Heart

Library of America

CURATOR

A champion of America’s great writers and timeless works, Library of America guides readers in finding and exploring the exceptional writing that reflects the nation’s history and culture.

Learn More

PUBLISHER

From poetry, novels, and memoirs to journalism, crime writing, and science fiction, the more than 300 volumes published by Library of America are widely recognized as America’s literary canon.

Browse our books Subscribe

NON-PROFIT

With contributions from donors, Library of America preserves and celebrates a vital part of our cultural heritage for generations to come.

Support our mission

Theodore Roethke: Selected Poems (paperback)

Related Books

Get 10% off your first Library of America purchase.