Theodore Roethke Quotes - Page 2

Quotes about:

• A lively understandable spirit Once entertained you. It will come again. Be still. Wait.

  Theodore Roethke

  Inspirational, Waiting, Spirit

  Theodore Roethke, Carolyn Kizer (2013). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose”, p.13, Copper Canyon Press

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• All lovers live by longing, and endure: Summon a vision and declare it pure.

  Theodore Roethke

  Vision, Lovers, Longing

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.163, Anchor

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• Art is our defense against hysteria and death.

  Theodore Roethke

  Art, Hysteria, Defense

  Theodore Roethke, Carolyn Kizer (2013). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose”, p.76, Copper Canyon Press

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• I long for the imperishable quiet at the heart of form.

  Theodore Roethke

  Heart, Long, Quiet

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.273, Anchor

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• Love begets love. This torment is my joy.

  Theodore Roethke

  Love, Joy, Torment

  Theodore Roethke (1975). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, Anchor Books

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• Any fool can take a bad line out of a poem; it takes a real pro to throw out a good line.

  Theodore Roethke

  Real, Crafts, Lines

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• The damage of teaching: the constant contact with the undeveloped.

  Theodore Roethke

  Teaching, Damage, Contact

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• The body and the soul know how to play
  In that dark world where gods have lost their way.

  Theodore Roethke

  Dark, Play, Soul

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.162, Anchor

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• Who rise from flesh to spirit know the fall:
  The word outleaps the world, and light is all.

  Theodore Roethke

  Fall, Light, World

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.164, Anchor

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• Wake the happy words.

  Theodore Roethke

  Crafts

  Theodore Roethke, Carolyn Kizer (2013). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose”, p.153, Copper Canyon Press

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• My truths are all foreknown,This anguish self-revealed.I'm naked to the bone,With nakedness my shield.

  Theodore Roethke

  Self, Naked, Shields

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.17, Anchor

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• The self says, I am; The heart says, I am less; The spirit says, you are Nothing.

  Theodore Roethke

  Humility, Heart, Self

  Theodore Roethke (1975). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, Anchor Books

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• Pain wanders through my bones like a lost fire

  Theodore Roethke

  Pain, Fire, Bones

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.352, Anchor

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• You must believe: a poem is a holy thing - a good poem, that is. The poem, even a short time after being written, seems no miracle; unwritten, it seems something beyond the capacity of the gods.

  Theodore Roethke

  Believe, Miracle, Poetry

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• I lose and find myself in the long water. I am gathered together once more.

  Theodore Roethke

  Long, Water, Together

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.285, Anchor

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• I wish I could find an event that meant as much as simple seeing.

  Theodore Roethke

  Simple, Wish, Events

  Theodore Roethke (2006). “Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63”, p.212, Copper Canyon Press

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• I have gone into the waste lonely places

  Theodore Roethke

  Lonely, Lonely Places, Gone

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.229, Anchor

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• I learned not to fear infinity, The far field, the windy cliffs of forever, The dying of time in the white light of tomorrow, The wheel turning away from itself, The sprawl of the wave, The on-coming water.

  Theodore Roethke

  Light, White, Water

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.288, Anchor

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• Should we say the self, once perceived, becomes the soul?

  Theodore Roethke

  Self Esteem, Self Respect, Soul

  Theodore Roethke, Carolyn Kizer (2013). “On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose”, p.37, Copper Canyon Press

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• I came where the river Ran over stones; My ears knew An early joy. And all the waters Of all the streams Sang in my veins That summer day.

  Theodore Roethke

  Summer, Rain, Rivers

  Theodore Roethke (2005). “Selected Poems”

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• All finite things reveal infinitude: The mountain with its singular bright shade Like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow, The after-light upon ice-burdened pines; Odor of basswood upon a mountain slope, A scene beloved of bees; Silence of water above a sunken tree: The pure serene of memory of one man,- A ripple widening from a single stone Winding around the waters of the world.

  Theodore Roethke

  Memories, Men, Shine On

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• Civilization is over-rated, but there isn't much else.

  Theodore Roethke

  Civilization, Culture

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• And I rejoiced in being what I was.

  Theodore Roethke

  Theodore Roethke (2005). “Selected Poems”

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• The mind enters itself, and God the mind,
  And one is One, free in the tearing wind.

  Theodore Roethke

  God, Freedom, Wind

  Theodore Roethke (2005). “Selected Poems”

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• Reason? That dreary shed, that hutch for grubby schoolboys.

  Theodore Roethke

  Reason, Shed, Dreary

  Theodore Roethke (2011). “The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”, p.145, Anchor

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