Four Critics’ Perspective of Theodore Roethkes Elegy for Jane Essay

Four Critics Perspective of Theodore Roethkes plaint for JaneMore than forty years after her untimely death, Jane Bannick breathes again--or so it seems bit reading about her. Janes unfortunate death in an equestrian solidus prompted one of her professors, the poet Theodore Roethke, to write a moving rime, Elegy for Jane, recalling his young scholar and his feelings of grief at her loss. Opinions appeared almost as soon as Roethkes tribute to Jane, and passages about the poem continue to appear in articles and books. Recent books by Parini, Ross-Bryant, Kalaidjian, and Stiffler disclose current assessments. According to Parini, Janes death is not the stem of the poem rather, her death presents an occasion for calling up a certain(a) emotional state in which Roethkes feelings of grief and pity transcend the occasion. chase the standard of elegiac celebration of the vegetation god Adonis grasp back to Bions Lament for Adonis and Moschuss Lament for Bion, Roethke associat es the deceased with elemental aspects of character--the build tendrils, the pickerel, the wren--to defuse the pathos of her death. A Romantic poet, Roethke views death as a stage the plants point to rebirth (138-39). The subject of Roethkes most famous poem (45) becomes the response to Janes death and his ambivalent emotions at her graveside. Without the associations of earlier elegies, the emotion would fall the occasion. Roethke mourns not only Jane, whom he knew only slightly, but also the deaths of us all (138-39). Jane presents one aspect of woman in The Waking disposition (1953) Ross-Bryant views Jane as a young girl who is dead. The poem expresses concern with the orgasm of death. This poignant elegy is presen... ...ini and Ross-Bryant appear almost polarized in their opinion of the nature of Roethkes feelings for Jane Parini contends that Roethke mourns for us all Ross-Bryant feels that Roethkes grief is intensely personal. Other than the nature of than Roethkes feelings for Jane, these four critics find little to disagree about in Elegy for Jane. full treatment CitedKalaidjian, Walter B. Understanding Theodore Roethke. Columbia U of South Carolina P, 1987. Parini, Jay. Theodore Roethke An American Romantic. Amherst U of mum P, 1979. Roethke, Theodore. The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke. New York Anchor-Doubleday, 1975. Ross-Bryant, Lynn. Theodore Roethke Poetry of the Earth . . . Poet of the Spirit. Port Washington, N.Y. Kennikat, 1981. Stiffler, Randall. Theodore Roethke The Poet and His Critics. Chicago ALA, 1986.