The poem
When I put her out, once, by the garbage pail, She looked so limp and bedraggled, So foolish and trusting, like a sick poodle, Or a wizened aster in late September, I brought her back in again For a new routine-- Vitamins, water, and whatever Sustenance seemed sensible At the time: she'd lived So long on gin, bobbie pins, half-smoked cigars, dead beer, Her shriveled petals falling On the faded carpet, the stale Steak grease stuck to her fuzzy leaves. (Dried-out, she creaked like a tulip.) The things she endured!-- The dumb dames shrieking half the night Or the two of us, alone, both seedy, Me breathing booze at her, She leaning out of her pot toward the window.
Near the end, she seemed almost to hear me-- And that was scary-- So when that snuffling cretin of a maid Threw her, pot and all, into the trash-can, I said nothing.
But I sacked the presumptuous hag the next week, I was that lonely.
Does anyone know when The Geranium was written? I think this poem is amazing. You don't know how good you have it, and then it is gone and you don't have any idea what to do. I am definitely going to read more by Roethke.
T.R. last taught at the University of Washington in Seattle (not Washington University). He was visiting friends and died on BAINBRIDGE Island (not Brimbridge).
Geranium is an excellent poem. Thanks for posting.
I am studying this poem in english at college at the moment and I really enjoyed reading it, this poem makes me think alot about things in my life that I take for granted but would be lost without if they were gone...thankyou for this poem!
Yeah, it's all right, but the Survivor is much better, especially if you've read Catch-22 Trust me. And the Far Field is most Excellent, if you like Donnie Darko.
I realy enjoyed reading this poem, especially since Roethke is such a great writer. Does anyone else feel like you are in the poem with him! His use of imagery is fantastic.
If anyone has anymore in depth opinions about The Geranium I would love to read them. I am writing and analysis of this poem for my AP Enlglish class. I always like to include more than my own ideas. Thank you!
I really enjoy Roethke. He is one of my favorite poets. This poem almost anyone can relate to. Roethke = great poet
A person told me, his teacher told him, this poem was about a man loving an inanimate object. I disagree, it is about a man loving a women that he lost, comparing her to a flower.
I think the poet is sharing how we attach our feelings about people to objects that represent them in our minds.
Perhaps The Geranium was the womans flower, and when he lost the woman he held onto the flower.
Sorry guys but this poem is not about a woman Roethke lost. Reading through the poem there is no idication to the fact, Roethke simply used personification (when you give an inanimate object personal qualities, whihc in this case are female qualities) to better display the affection for the flower and make the relationship between him and the plant more realistic and intense. It is about loving an inanimate object,…
Read the whole commentSorry guys but this poem is not about a woman Roethke lost. Reading through the poem there is no idication to the fact, Roethke simply used personification (when you give an inanimate object personal qualities, whihc in this case are female qualities) to better display the affection for the flower and make the relationship between him and the plant more realistic and intense. It is about loving an inanimate object, and in this case the relationship goes too far. It is about mans dependance on nature, and natures dependance on man. It is also about natures ability to improve our lives. I suspect this poem may have been written during the time Roethke was suffering with depression from his bi-polar disorder.
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Read the whole comment-The Geranium
-Penthouse
-Duplex
-1658sf
-$1.3mil negotiable
-CALL [phone removed] NOW!
-No West Sun
-Unblocked
-Pool View
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