Theodore Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1908. As a child, he spent much time in the greenhouse owned by his father and uncle. His impressions of the natural world contained there would later profoundly influence the subjects and imagery of his verse. Roethke attended the University of Michigan and took a few classes at Harvard, but was unhappy in school. His first book, Open House (1941), took ten years to write and was critically acclaimed upon its publication. He went on to publish sparingly but his reputation grew with each new collection, including The Waking which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1954. Stylistically his work ranged from witty poems in strict meter and regular stanzas to free verse poems full of mystical and surrealistic imagery. At all times, however, the natural world in all its mystery, beauty, fierceness, and sensuality, is close by, and the poems are possessed of an intense lyricism. He taught at various colleges and universities, including Lafayette, Pennsylvania State, and Bennington, and worked last at the University of Washington. Theodore Roethke died in 1963.

Academy of American Poets, "Theodore Roethke"

Modern American Poetry, "Theodore Roethke"

PBS, Thomas Hampson: I Hear America Singing, "Theodore Roethke"

GaWOW.com, "Theodore Roethke: Poems"

Mason West, "Roethke and the Convergence of Dualism"

ArtsEditor, "Salvaged Poems of Theodore Roethke"