This presentation is an analysis of the intrinsic elements of The Waking by Theodore Roethke in order to understand more about the meaning of the poem.

1. Andini Azis

2. 
In this writing, the writer tries to analyze the
instrinsic elements of “The Waking” by Theodore
Roetkhe. The purpose of this analysis is to understand the
using of musical devices and tone in the poetry. The
writer uses the theories of musical devices and tone with
close reading method in analyzing the poetry. The writer
finds that the poetry is dominated by alliteration which
almost can be found in every stanza of the poetry. In
conclusion, the musical devices and tone of the poetry
enrich the meaning of the poetry itself.
Keywords: villanelle, alliteration, rhyme, tone
Abstract

3. 
Poetry is one of genres in literature. Laurence Perrine in
“Sounds and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry” (1969:3) defines
poetry as a kind of language that says more and says it more
intensely than does ordinary language. From that definition,
we can say that poetry contains a complexity of human’s
feeling and mind. In order to understand the meaning of a
poetry, analyzing the poetry itself will be very helpful. A
poetry can be interpreted differently because each person has
their own feeling, their own opinion, their own understanding
or their own experience. By learning to analyze poetry little by
little, and step by step, we will be able to have a greater
understanding about its meaning.
Introduction

4. 
Theodore Roethke was born on
May 25, 1908, in Saginaw, Michigan,
America. As a child, Roethke spent much
time in his father and his uncle’s
greenhouse, which influenced many
Roethke’s works. Roethke attended the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in
1925, and graduated magna cum laude in
1929. In 1954, his book The Waking was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize. In 1953,
Roethke married Beatrice O'Connell. In
1963, he suffered a heart attack in his friend
S. Rasnics' swimming pool, and died on
Bainbridge Island, Washington, aged 55.
Theodore Roethke

5. 
The Waking
I wake to sleep, and take my waking
slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to
know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking
slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are
you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk
softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

6. 
Death is something that surely will come to
every living creature. Human beings have to have a
strong believe about their fate. Instead of being afraid
of the death, human beings have to choose to live their
lives and look for experiences. In the end, life is a
lesson, we will learn it when we through.
Paraphrase

7. 
1. Musical Devices of “The Waking”
The Waking by Theodore Roethke is a villanelle. In the
poem, there are six stanzas consisting of five tercets with A-B-A
rhyme scheme and a concluding quartrain with A-B-A-A rhyme
scheme. The first and the third line of the first tercet, I wake to
sleep and take my waking slow and I learn by going where I
have to go, are repeated in the other four tercets and become the
final two lines of the quartrain. As the refrain, the two sentences
establish haunting echoes which manifest either a self reminder
or a self encouragement.
Discussion

8. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
In the first line of the first stanza, we have already got a perfect rhyme; wake and
take which have identical final stressed vowels. As for its second line, it provides
gratifying sounds with its alliteration from the words feel, fate and fear. Roethke
creates another rhyme in this stanza by giving matching sounds, slow and go, at
the end of intervening lines.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
The three lines provide their own rhyme and their own pleasure. The sounds of
we, think and feeling in the first line have similar ‘i’ sounds which make the
whole sentence becomes pleasurable to be read and heard. It goes the same like
the sounds of the words hear, being and ear in the second line of this stanza. They
have similar vowel sounds, especially for hear and ear which its rhyme is perfect.
A-B-A rhyme scheme is being showed in this stanza, as the second tercet of the
poem, by the words know, ear and slow.

9. Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
In this stanza he gives a variation by using o sounds in every line of the stanza.
Such assonance gives us another haunting echo of rhyme everytime we hear it,
especially when it comes to the combination of the words those and close, which
have a perfect rhyme.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
The words takes, the, Tree and tell draw a melody for the poem together. If we
talk about the meaning of this stanza, it surely talks about cycle of life, which is
showed by the Tree, the lowly worm, and I— human. Roethke mentions about
nature, and combines it with human's life, which gives enlightenment to his
mind that every living creature has, indeed, their own cycle of life.

10. Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
Roethke composes this stanza with a light rhyme yet meaningful. Look at the
combination of the words lively and lovely which its ryhme is a half-rhyme. Combining
the two seems to be Roethke’s way to show his feeling and attitude. He chooses those
two ‘positive’ words to reinforce his ‘positive’ mind, and that is what makes its
meaning becomes more beautiful.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
Roethke wants to reinforce his feeling by playing with consonance and alliteration of
the consonant s, which makes every word with consonant s in the first two lines of the
stanza feels to have a strong stressing. As a closing, this stanza presents the conlusion
of the poem.

11. 2. The Tone of “The Waking”
In “The Waking”, Roethke’s attitute or the tone of the poem is
suggested in every line of it. From its musical devices, combined with some
descriptions about nature, it can be said that its tone is calm and peaceful, yet
encouraging. Roethke himself shows that he accepts his fate by realizing that he
cannot fear it or run away from it. The keywords or the main thoughts of the
poem are the refrain:
I wake to sleep and take my waking slow
I learn by going where I have to go
The reason why Roethke keeps on repeating those sentenses is because
both sentences, like what I said before, manifest either a self reminder or a self
encouragement which indicates that Roethke is on his meditation or his muse
about life, death and everything in between. We can say that Roethke wants us
to catch his feeling through those rhymes, to feel our own fate, and to sense
particular thing about living.

12. 
After analyzing “The Waking” in regard to its musical devices and
tone followed by a short explanation of the poem’s meaning in it, we can
know that Theodore Roethke has a strong spiritual life. His childhood, his
father’s death, his uncle’s death, what he knows about nature, and all
experiences he had are all combined in a deep though about life and death
through this poem. He realizes that every living creature has its own fate
and will die in the end. By realizing that, Roethke has a higher spirit to live
his life well before facing his God. Using beautiful musical devices with its
repetition and many variations in it means that Roethke wants to reinforce
his state of mind beautifully and calmly too because we know that life can
be understood by learning it slowly, not in a hurry. In the end, we can say
that “The Waking” is one of Theodore Roethke’s greatest poems because it
has beautiful aspects of music or rhyme and a deep meaning.
Conclusion