http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2003/12/03/roethkes-the-lost-son/ Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:14:02 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2003/12/03/roethkes-the-lost-son/comment-page-1/#comment-10609 Parks Lanier Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:09:31 +0000 http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/?p=537#comment-10609 "The Lost Son" part 4: The Return is the Roethke of the greenhouse poems which so many readers enjoy. In cold weather, greenhouses require heat, and perhaps a boy to keep the "boiler" going. There seems to be a memory of walking "Over slippery cinders/Through the long greenhouse." It's where roses are growing, and as the boy walks, he says, "My knees made little winds underneath/ Where the weeds slept." Underneath what? Anyone familiar with greenhouses will know that the particular plants being grown and cared for in a greenhouse will be raised off the floor. Underneath them,on the greenhouse floor, often weeds will grow, receiving the benefits of nutrients and care (warmth) lavished on the more valuable plants above. The boy's goal is the boiler, where coal glows red and becomes "The big roses, the big bloody clinkers." There is a memory: "Once I stayed all night. / Snow." Is the boy as valuable as the roses which are not allowed to freeze? Or is he like the weeds, an accidental recipient of nourishment and care? "Then came steam./ Pipe-knock." It's a hot water heating system and the pipes are noisy. Has he done his duty? "Ordnung! ordnung!/ Papa is coming." The plants are well. "A fine haze moved off the leaves; /Frost melted on the far panes." The snow is no threat. The valued rose and chrysanthemum "turned toward the light," but so, too, do the "bent yellowy weeds" which "moved in a slow up-sway." Just as the rain falls on the just and the unjust, the beneficent climate of the greenhouse sustains the rose and the weed. The question is, which does the boy feel he is? “The Lost Son” part 4: The Return is the Roethke of the greenhouse poems which so many readers enjoy. In cold weather, greenhouses require heat, and perhaps a boy to keep the “boiler” going. There seems to be a memory of walking “Over slippery cinders/Through the long greenhouse.” It’s where roses are growing, and as the boy walks, he says, “My knees made little winds underneath/ Where the weeds slept.” Underneath what? Anyone familiar with greenhouses will know that the particular plants being grown and cared for in a greenhouse will be raised off the floor. Underneath them,on the greenhouse floor, often weeds will grow, receiving the benefits of nutrients and care (warmth) lavished on the more valuable plants above. The boy’s goal is the boiler, where coal glows red and becomes “The big roses, the big bloody clinkers.” There is a memory: “Once I stayed all night. / Snow.” Is the boy as valuable as the roses which are not allowed to freeze? Or is he like the weeds, an accidental recipient of nourishment and care? “Then came steam./ Pipe-knock.” It’s a hot water heating system and the pipes are noisy. Has he done his duty? “Ordnung! ordnung!/ Papa is coming.” The plants are well. “A fine haze moved off the leaves; /Frost melted on the far panes.” The snow is no threat. The valued rose and chrysanthemum “turned toward the light,” but so, too, do the “bent yellowy weeds” which “moved in a slow up-sway.” Just as the rain falls on the just and the unjust, the beneficent climate of the greenhouse sustains the rose and the weed. The question is, which does the boy feel he is?

]]> http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/2003/12/03/roethkes-the-lost-son/comment-page-1/#comment-9481 Stan Galloway Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:43:25 +0000 http://www.lorenwebster.net/In_a_Dark_Time/?p=537#comment-9481 An excellent introduction to the beginning and novice reader of Roethke. I've referred students to it and linked to it from my own web page on "The Lost Son" (http://www.bridgewater.edu/~sgallowa/386/lostson.htm) An excellent introduction to the beginning and novice reader of Roethke. I’ve referred students to it and linked to it from my own web page on “The Lost Son” (http://www.bridgewater.edu/~sgallowa/386/lostson.htm)

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