I Am! Says The Lamb

by Theodore Roethke

A collection of nonsense poems and light verse.

Genres: Poetry

70 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

American poet Theodore Roethke published short lyrical works in The Waking (1953) and other collections.

Rhythm and natural imagery characterized volumes of Theodore Huebner Roethke. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book, The Waking. Roethke wrote of his poetry: The greenhouse "is my symbol for the whole of life, a womb, a heaven-on-earth." From childhood experiences of working in floral company of his family in Saginaw, Roethke drew inspiration. Beginning is 1941 with Open House, the distinguished poet and teacher published extensively; he received two National Book Awards among an array of honors. In 1959, Yale University awarded him the prestigious Bollingen Prize. Roethke taught at Michigan State College, (present-day Michigan State University) and at colleges in Pennsylvania and Vermont before joining the faculty of the University of Washington at Seattle in 1947.

Reviews

[Jeremy Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've probably read "My Papa's Waltz" a hundred times before, but never in the context of this volume. I always came across it in anthologies, and alone, isolated, it always read with menace. Rediscovering it in this context lessened some of the foreboding in it, though.

I Am! Says The Lamb is a book in two parts: first "The Nonsense Poems," then "The Greenhouse Poems." The former are what they claim to be, playful, foolish, rhymed poems, mostly short and recounting odd and nonfactual information about animals. They seem every bit for children, and the last poem in the section, "The Wagtail," is indeed dedicated to the poet's son. That the poems are accompanied by cartoonish illustrations of characters in the poems only heighten's the effect. In fact, for quite a while, as a reader, being over-serious and unprepared, I asked myself, "What is this? Where is this going? Is 'My Papa's Waltz,' buried in a volume meant for kids???"

The second section, however, reveals this this book is organized in a way that will remind us of Blake. This is not to say that Roethke ever set out to emulate Songs of Innocence and of Experience, and whatever it may be, this book doesn't approximate it either. But there is a definite passage from the playful spirit of "The Nonsense Poems" into a more considered and darker world in "The Greenhouse Poems." These latter poems include memories of childhood, observation, and often venture into somber meditations, and in the context of following the nonsense lyrics of the first section, they seem rich with wisdom. And yet, the touch remains light. The illustrations are still there, if more staid. And even if, for example, "My Papa's Waltz" maintains some of its darkness, if its whisky breath holds its pungency, it does not read with so much menace when coming shortly after a poem about a donkey trying to fly a kite.

As such, while I can't say that I was particularly excited by the first section, I was happy to have read through it to reach the second. These poems have something I admire deeply. "Moss-Gathering," in particular, was one that caused me to pause. I am also wondering, even though this collection appeared nearly forty years later, how much Roethke was thinking about Williams' Spring And All. I have to guess, with all the vernal imagery, that the book was somehow on his mind. Surely.

[Scull17 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Roethke might be my least favorite, favorite poet. This light volume really hit the spot though, in a a sea of otherwise.