Vacillation between identities in the poetry of Theodore Roethke

Abstract EN

This paper investigates the ideas of the American poet Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) on identity and the mystical concept of identification in his poetry.

The paper is divided into three sections.

Section one is an introduction that starts with a brief account of the poet's life and thought.

This is followed by brief notes on the influences on Roethke's thought and poetry.

Section two contains the main body of the paper ; in which the researcher reveals Roethke's vision of the cosmos in relation to its constituent parts.

The discussion sheds light onto two aspects: the human self and the material world, and the human self and Divinity.

The poems chosen for the study show the poet's attempt to reveal the bonds that tie the inner self with the physical world on one hand, and with divinity on the other ; they also exhibit the fluctuation of the speaker's identity and his assuming different identities during his spiritual communion with the outside world.

Finally, the paper ends with a conclusion that sums up the findings of the study.