Waking
In “The Waking”, Theodore Roethke explores the uncertainty of life, the inevitability of death, and the purpose of existence. ... The idea of living life fully and not rushing through it is expressed throughout the piece in the statement, “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow,” in which the word sleep symbolizes death, and the word wake symbolizes rebirth and life. ... He repeats the phrases “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow”, in which he shows that people must live their lives slowly, and “I learn by going where I have to go”, in which he tells readers that the way to gain knowledge is by simply living life.