The Waking

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For the physiological process of waking, see sleep.

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The Waking is a poem written by Theodore Roethke in 1952 in the form of a villanelle. It is a self-reflexive poem that describes waking up from sleep. It comments on the unknowable[1] in a contemplative mood. It also has been interpreted as comparing life to sleep.[2]

The poem is composed of a total of nineteen lines with six stanzas: five tercets and a quatrain. The entire poem rhyme scheme is ABA in the first five stanzas; with the first line of stanzas third through fifth being slant rhymes. The stanza six rhythmic pattern includes a similar theme (ABA) but with an extra line (A); so it has the pattern of ABAA. The poem fits the description of a villanelle. According to the Norton anthology of poetry on page 2045, a villanelle:

Is a French verse that retains the circular pattern of a peasant dance and consists of five tercets rhyming ABA followed by a quatrain rhyming ABAA, with the first line of the initial tercet recurring as the last line of the second and fourth tercets and the third line of the initial tercet recurring as the last line of the third and fifth tercets.

So the scheme should look like this:

Stanza # Tercet 1 A1 B A2 2 A B A1 3 A B A2 4 A B A1 5 A B A2 Quatrain 6 A B A1 A2

Now notice what the poem end rhymes are (notice the “O” use in the word choice): Stanza # Tercet 1 Slow Fear Go 2 know? Ear Slow 3 You? There Go 4 How? Stair Slow 5 Do Air Go Quatrain 6 Know Near Slow Go

The scheme is almost perfect with the exception of the slant rhymes. Nonetheless, this scheme makes the poem feel spicier and more distinctive because it is awfully specific in its pattern, but not so obvious.

The poem has a “small” volta on line eight and a “big” one on line thirteen. On prior sentences he emphasized, “I feel my fate in what I cannot fear;” however, in line eight, Roethke clearly fears God when he states “I shall walk softly there,” a sentence indicating apprehension and fear. Nonetheless, the main volta of the poem is line thirteen where the author stops talking about a vision or belief, God, and returns to a factual world, the “Great Nature.” God can be mystical, supernatural, and to some people a simple belief, but nature is not because we can see, touch, experience, taste, smell, and feel nature. We need to also consider that Theodore's childhood was spent around greenhouses, which he then reflected by the use of natural imagery in his poetry. Even though there is a lot of restriction to this type of writing, Roethke manage to use the alliteration words “lovely, learn” on line fifteen to create a mnemonic in the sentence (He clearly considers that sentence very important) and assonance rhyme throughout the poem. Two examples of assonance rhyme in the poem are: “ I wAke to sleep, And tAke my wAking slow” and “WhAt fAlls Away is Always. And is neAr.” In the sentence “What falls away is always. And is near” there is a very apparent pause that breaks up that line into two verses: “What falls away is always” and “And is near.”The caesura in that line allows the sentence to marinate before the next thought is bestowed. There is also an internal rhyme in the poem. An example is on line five where he uses hear, ear and ear in the same sentence. This line successfully brings rhythm and lots of sensation and awareness to it. As you read the entire poem, it actually becomes a sentence that is hard to forget.

[edit] The Waking

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.