The Waking

"The Waking" by Theodore Roethke, read by Tom Moran (Head Custodian, Downers Grove, IL), as part of The Favorite Poem Project



I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.


We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.


Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.


Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.


Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.


This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.


Via The Chawed Rosin