Quote by: Theodore Roethke

What's madness but nobility of soul At odds with circumstance? The day's on fire! I know the purity of pure despair, My shadow pinned against a sweating wall, That place among the rocks--is it a cave, Or winding path? The edge is what I have........ ....... Dark,dark my light, and darker my desire. My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly, Keeps buzzing at the sill. ~From "The Waking" by Theodore Roethke


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Author Bio


  • NameTheodore Roethke
  • DescriptionAmerican poet
  • BornMay 25, 1908
  • DiedAugust 1, 1963
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPoet; Writer
  • AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship; Bollingen Prize; Pulitzer Prize For Poetry; National Book Award