The Waking

"The Waking" is a poem written by Theodore Roethke in 1953 in the form of a villanelle. It is a self-reflexive poem that describes waking up from sleep. It comments on the unknowable[1] with a contemplative tone. It also has been interpreted as comparing life to waking and death to sleeping.[2]

  • The poem appears as an object in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five.
  • An excerpt of the poem also appears at the beginning of Dean Koontz's novel Odd Hours.
  • Kurt Elling sings the poem on his 2007 album Nightmoves.
  • Quoted by the psycho cop in Stephen King's novel Desperation.

References
  1. Archived June 13, 2003, at the Wayback Machine
  2. The Waking by Theodore Roethke. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 16 August 2013


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