Root Cellar by Theodore Roethke (1908-1963)
Summing Up: Theodore Roethke, an American poet who was born
in 1908 and died in 1963, composed the poem "Root Cellar." In it, the
poet describes the environment of a root cellar, which is a lifeless,
unpleasant, and desperate place. He then discusses how plants, which are a
symbol of life, have tenaciously survived in the revolting basement.
When the poet says that "nothing would sleep
in that cellar," he successfully aids readers in conjuring up an image of
the gloomy cellar by describing how awful a root cellar is. He compares the
roots to "ancient bait," which demonstrates that they become
fragmented in addition to their awful scent, and he refers to the stench of the
cellar as "a congress of stinks," which immediately makes the readers
feel unfavorably about the status of the cellar. The description of this
unpleasant odor adds a fresh experience to the poem, allowing the readers to
get a more complete and in-depth impression of the surroundings. By describing
the decayed plant bits, the poet conveys the vile atmosphere of the cellar.
Using a simple root cellar as his topic, Roethke manages to capture the
entirety of the life/death cycle that we are a part of. His description
effectively creates in the readers' minds that the atmosphere for the plants is
hopeless, deadly, and terrible.