Be sure that whatever you are is you.

— Theodore Roethke

By daily dying, I have come to be.

— Theodore Roethke

Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire. My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly, Keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?

— Theodore Roethke

Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light.

— Theodore Roethke

Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.

— Theodore Roethke

(Dreams drain the spirit if we dream too long.)

— Theodore Roethke

I learn by going where I have to go

— Theodore Roethke

I learn by going where I have to go.

— Theodore Roethke

I learned not to fear infinity, The far field, the windy cliffs of forever, The dying of time in the white light of tomorrow, The wheel turning away from itself, The sprawl of the wave, The on-coming water.

— Theodore Roethke

In a dark time, the eye begins to see.

— Theodore Roethke