Night Journey

Night Journey
Theodore Roethke

Now as the train bears west,
Its rhythm rocks the earth,
And from my Pullman berth
I stare into the night
While others take their rest.
Bridges of iron lace,
A suddenness of trees,
A lap of mountain mist
All cross my line of sight,
Then a bleak wasted place,
And a lake below my knees.
Full on my neck I feel
The straining at a curve;
My muscles move with steel,
I wake in every nerve.
I watch a beacon swing
From dark to blazing bright;
We thunder through ravines
And gullies washed with light
Beyond the mountain pass
Mist deepens on the pane;
We rush into a rain
That rattles double glass.
Wheels shake the roadbed stone,
The pistons jerk and shove,
I stay up half the night
To see the land I love.

QUESTIONS

1. What do you notice about this poem?

2. What poetic techniques does Roethke use?

3. What do you like about this poem?

4. What do you dislike?

5. Theodore Roethke was born in 1908 in Saginaw, Michigan. (He died in 1963.) As a child, he spent much time in the greenhouse owned by his father and his uncle. How do you think his childhood experiences might have influenced his writing?

You can find more of Roethke's poems here.