Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke

by Theodore Roethke, David Wagoner (Introduction)

“There are only two passions in art; there are love and hate—with endless modifications.”—Theodore Roethke
At his death, Theodore Roethke left behind 277 spiral notebooks full of poetry fragments, aphorisms, jokes, memos, journal entries, random phrases, bits of dialogue, commentary, and fugitive miscellany. Within these notebooks, Roethke allowed his mind to rove freely, moment by moment, moving from the practical to the transcendental, from the halting to the sublime.
Fellow poet and colleague David Wagoner distilled these notebooks—twelve linear feet of bookshelf—into an energetic, wise, and rollicking collection that shows Roethke to be one of the truly phenomenal creative sources in American poetry.
From “A Psychic Janitor”:
I’m sick of fumbling, furtive, disorganized minds like bad lawyers trying to make too many points that this is an age of and these, mind you, tin-eared punks who couldn’t tell a poem from an old boot if a gun were put to their heads . . .
Cover art by United States Poet Laureate Ted Kooser.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Textbooks

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

American poet Theodore Roethke published short lyrical works in The Waking (1953) and other collections.

Rhythm and natural imagery characterized volumes of Theodore Huebner Roethke. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book, The Waking. Roethke wrote of his poetry: The greenhouse "is my symbol for the whole of life, a womb, a heaven-on-earth." From childhood experiences of working in floral company of his family in Saginaw, Roethke drew inspiration. Beginning is 1941 with Open House, the distinguished poet and teacher published extensively; he received two National Book Awards among an array of honors. In 1959, Yale University awarded him the prestigious Bollingen Prize. Roethke taught at Michigan State College, (present-day Michigan State University) and at colleges in Pennsylvania and Vermont before joining the faculty of the University of Washington at Seattle in 1947.

Reviews

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite poet by far. I got this book as a gift when I was 16, and used at least three of his poems as inspiration for my creative writing classes. His poems are beautiful and, though many poets write about nature, his are original, and he uses certain techniques (his use of villanelles and beats per lines especially) that make his poems all the more memorable. This book also includes pages from his notebooks, and though it's quite hard to read some of his handwriting, it's very interesting because you get to see his process of writing and how he went about it. I would definitely recommend this to poetry lovers.

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to think no self-respecting academic publisher would let Wagoner publish a book like this now. If Roethke's notebooks needed to be published, then Wagoner should have published them as Roethke wrote them and annotated them with footnotes like God intended instead of doing . . . whatever this is.

I know Wagoner was Roethke's student and then his friend and colleague and an important poet in his own right, but it's hard for me not to interpret him selecting and arranging fragments from Roethke's notebooks into poems and prose pieces as an act of self-aggrandizement. Or something.

This reads like a collection of random aphorisms, which it is.

Also, Roethke's description of the poet is universally male, his idea of the audience for the poet is universally male, and when he does deign to speak of female poets and female students and female readers, his contempt drips off the page.

I say good day, sir!

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't get this from the library. It is fun to dip into. There are some wonderful lines. But trying to read straight through a massive collection of fragments that another (*cough*lesstalented*cough*) poet has arranged to sort of form poems is a tad wearisome. My mind kept trying to form connections and meanings that weren't there.

[Johnny Trash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Notes culled from the hundreds of notebooks and journals Roethke kept. Little morsels of genius and silliness that will help you become a better poet.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The trees are breathing less. You, winky, sleep.
I've come to tear the sun out. Save me, mouse.
I'm done with every pretty thing."

[Ellice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other reviewers have pointed out that this is not the currently accepted "academic" way of publishing unpublished writings from a deceased author, and also that Roethke's writings (and possibly Roethke himself) are male-centric.

The first is true, but I don't care. The writings here are just fragments, impressions, short snippets that are hard to fully get hold of but beautiful nonetheless. Though I don't know much about him, I don't think Roethke would mind them being out in the world in this way. It seems to jive with the way he wrote in general. It's not going to be for everyone, but it was for me.

The second accusation is also true. There is some uncomfortable material here about women. However, I've also made my peace with this one. Roethke was of his time, and though I can wish he had risen above it, it's too much for me to judge him and the hundreds of thousands of other men who did not. And there's too much gender-neutral beauty here to write it all off.

I've loved Roethke ever since I received Dirty Dinky and Other Creatures: Poems for Children as a kid, and I love him as an adult after reading this volume.

[James Geary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Culled from Roethke's notebooks, this is an intriguing collection of musings, unfinished poems and aphorisms, created perhaps out of Roethke's “desire to leave many poems in a state of partial completeness; to write nothing but fragments,” as he put it in a note circa 1945. Some memorable sayings...

There’s no place else: begin from where you are.

Teacher: one who carries on his education in public.

A poet: someone who is never satisfied with saying one thing at a time.

Live in a perpetual great astonishment.

[Nathaniel Gallegos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book full of fragments and reflections collected from the notebooks of Theodore Roethke. By turns brilliant, evocative and troubling these poetic fragments paint a portrait of a mind deeply engaged with the alchemy of the word. This book was my introduction to this man's work and based on what I have read here I will be exploring the rest of this gifted writers oeuvre.

[Steve Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fragmentary glimpse inside the mind of a successful poet.

[Glenn Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

The raw language that lies beneath. One of my favorite books. Don’t diminish it by trying to make “sense” just revel in the sound.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

"From Roethke to Goethe isn't really so far// Put a capital G in the capital R --// then knock out small /k/, a quite simple thing -- and you've got a fat cat fixed up like a king."
Exhilarating, complex poetry and comments organized by mood or tone. Like so many suffering from bipolar illness, Roethke poised on the edge of chaos, channels his visceral perceptions and visions into words which ring like church bells, announcing eternal truths.

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was one of the first HARDBACKS i ever bought, the year it came out. it was a big deal.
and my first Roethke - read so often that sections of it feel like a stretched and scattered poem swirling into cohesion. i cannot imagine reading him without meeting the man in these jewels from his notebooks

[Stella Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovered his poem on tumblr and thought I would give it try. I enjoyed most part but there are just too many references to Christianity and I'm always confused by the symbolism when I read poems (probably because I'm an Atheist so I don't really know a lot about that).
Favorite poems:
-Heart, You Have No House
-The Middle of A Roaring World
-The Thin Cries of The Spirit

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be dabbling in and in and in this stimulating collection of tibits from Roaethke's notebooks for days and weeks to come. Helps me make sense of my own journals and how I am drawn back into them again and again, like panning for the impossibly tiny flake of gold in the mud.

[Eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not always as good, and there's many things I see differently than Roethke, yet there's still so much beauty in this book and at more than one place it reminded me of Rilke's Letters To A Young Poet.

[carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roethke's poetry is mesmerizing. At times he sounds like a prophet born again in middle America's red states.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is a collection of fragments, it is a necessary companion to the collected poems of Roethke. I find myself reading it more often then the published poems!

[Lizbeth D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Roethke's work. This book is a collection of his notes and meanderings on various topics. Whether you read it in parts or cover to cover, there is something in here for all.