Theodore Roethke's past experiences greatly shaped his poetry and mental state later in life. His father owned greenhouses, which inspired poems like "My Papa's Waltz" describing his rough but soft-sided father. His father's death when Roethke was 14 had a profound impact, as he blamed himself and struggled with depression, which is evident in his introspective and depressive poetry like "Cuttings." Roethke's difficult past experiences uniquely influenced his inward-looking nature and mental health challenges.

1. The Shaping of the past How Theodore Roethke’s past shaped his future.

2. Is every person unique?

3. !!YES!! Even twins are unique in some way

4. Two schools of thought on the uniqueness of man Each person is either born or created to be a certain way and that is what determines how they will be. Every person is born equal and it is the experiences they have in life that determine who they will be.

5. Actually… It is a combination of both but leans closer to the experiences than birth side. What really makes someone a unique person is are the things they’ve encountered throughout their life and choices they’ve made during those encounters.

6. Theodore Roethke’s past greatly dictated his poetry as well as his state of mind as he got older.

7. Two Facts Two simple facts can be used to help us better understand Roethke and his poetry. His father owned Greenhouses His father died when he was fourteen

8. His Father Owned Greenhouses

9. His Father owned Greenhouses Knowing his father owned greenhouses lets us know that the father described in My Papa’s Waltz was indeed Roethke’s father He was a rough man who was firm but had a soft side for nature He drank whiskey, romped about, had rough knuckles and dirty hands

10. Rabit Trail Expanding on the Greenhouses…

11. Child on top of a Greenhouse This poem gives a detailed personal experience of Roethke’s It tells us that his father grew flowers Use of the word “accusers” foreshadows that he was doing something he knew he should not be It ends with everyone fearing he would get hurt.

12. A modern example of the same type of thing

13. His father died when he was fourteen

14. His father died when he was 14 This largely affected Roethke in that he implicated himself in his father’s death. This led to his self-destructive and introspective manic depression This depression is evident in most of his poetry, and as he aged and his depression worsened, it becomes even more prevalent in his poetry

15. Cuttings Cuttings is one of many Roethke poems that is full of negative and “depressive” language.

16. Conclusion It was Roethke’s past that directly influenced his entire life because he was so uniquely introverted. So much to the point that it consumed him mentally.