"The Waking" is a
poem
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
written by
Theodore Roethke
Theodore Huebner Roethke ( ; May 25, 1908 – August 1, 1963) was an American poet. He is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation, having won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1954 for his book '' The ...
in 1953 in the form of a
villanelle
A villanelle, also known as villanesque,Kastner 1903 p. 279 is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet re ...
. It comments on the unknowable with a contemplative tone. It also has been interpreted as comparing life to waking and death to sleeping.
The Waking by Theodore Roethke
''Poetry Foundation''. Retrieved 16 August 2013
In popular culture
*The poem appears as an object in Kurt Vonnegut's novel ''Slaughterhouse-Five
''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his ...
''.
*An excerpt of the poem also appears at the beginning of Dean Koontz's novel '' Odd Hours''.
*Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. He sang in cho ...
sings the poem on his 2007 album '' Nightmoves''.
*Quoted by the psycho cop in Stephen King's novel '' Desperation''.
*Quoted in Dana Simpson's "Ozy and Millie."
*Quoted in John Le Carré's The Russia House
References
External links
Source text
Secondary source of the text
American poems
1953 poems
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