"The Waking" is a

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

written by

Theodore Roethke Theodore Huebner Roethke ( ; May 25, 1908 – August 1, 1963) was an American poet. He is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation, having won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book ''The Wa ...

in 1953 in the form of a

villanelle A villanelle, also known as villanesque,Kastner 1903 p. 279 is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third line of the first tercet rep ...

. It comments on the unknowable with a contemplative tone. It also has been interpreted as comparing life to waking and death to sleeping.The Waking by Theodore Roethke
''Poetry Foundation''. Retrieved 16 August 2013

In popular culture

*The poem appears as an object in Kurt Vonnegut's novel ''

Slaughterhouse-Five ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to h ...

''. *An excerpt of the poem also appears at the beginning of Dean Koontz's novel ''

Odd Hours ''Odd Hours'' is the fourth novel in the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as Thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fi ...

''. *

Kurt Elling Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. He sang in cho ...

sings the poem on his 2007 album '' Nightmoves''. *Quoted by the psycho cop in Stephen King's novel '' Desperation''.

References

External links

Source text

Secondary source of the text
American poems 1953 poems {{1950s-poem-stub