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Theodore Roethke

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Poet

The Resume

    (May 25, 1908-August 1, 1963)
    Born in Saginaw, Michigan
    Wrote poems ‘The Lost Son,’ ‘My Papa’s Waltz,’ ‘The Waking,’ ‘I Knew a Woman,’ ‘Cuttings,’ ‘Elegy for Jane,’ ‘Infirmity’ and ‘In a Dark Time’

Why he might be annoying:

    He was a sickly child.
    He drank bootleg liquor as a teenager to impress his peers.
    He started law school but dropped out.
    While employed at Lafayette College, he had a breakdown in front of the dean (1935).
    This incident cost him his teaching position.
    He became sexually involved with several of his students.
    A dubious rumor has him drinking while swimming the afternoon he died.

Why he might not be annoying:

    When he was 15, his father died of cancer and his uncle committed suicide.
    He was the first in his family to attend university.
    He is famed for his hypnotic, natural imagery.
    He used memories of his father’s greenhouse in much of his poetry.
    When he learned he won a prize in the middle of a class, he took his students out for drinks.
    He became close friends with Dylan Thomas.
    He died of a heart attack while swimming in a friend’s pool.
    The pool was later converted into a Zen rock garden in his honor.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 79 Votes: 48.10% Annoying