We think by feeling. What is there to know? (4)
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? (7)
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? (10)
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do (13)
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. (16)
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.

1-3 paradox

(4) caesura followed by a rhetorical question to imply answer - no

(5) internal rhyme (hear, ear, ear)

(6) beginning of cycle through repitition

(7) diction: awake or asleep? - afraid of fate and death or not?

(8) capitalization to emphasize the importance of Ground in cycle

(9) paradox

(10) caesura; personification; diction - mystery of cycle of life

(11) allusion to cycle of life; personification; diction - always complicated (winding stair)

(13) capitalization and personification - fate

(14) punctuation - to you and me set apart to highlight

(15) alliteration : lovely, learn

(16)punctuation - emphasis; diction creating paradox

(17) caesura - forced contemplation

(18) repetition of common paradox to create cycle

(19) paradox again conlcudes the cycle

Metaphores

The poem contains two central metaphores - waking and sleeping. The connotations shrouding these two metaphores are responsible for much of the ambiguity of the poem and richness of Roethke's vision. In the most straightfoward sense, the antithesis of waking and sleeping suggests gaining consciousness and loosing it, growing and diminishing, and living and dying.

The poem title itself suggests yet another meaning of "waking": the dawning of the idea that the process of waking and sleeping does not actually involve a horrible reality. They in fact describe the natural and time worn cycle of life. The waking that the poet wants to depict for the reader is the newfound awareness that this cycle should be embraced and cherished, not feared.

Every metaphore in the poem - the light, the tree, the air, the worm, and the winding stair - plays an important role in clarifying the poet's vision. The light taking the tree and the worm ascending the stair represent two images of growth. Roethke's suggestion to "take the lively air" invites the reader to take the time to enjoy life, especially lingering on the things that bring joy, while the time still remains to enjoy them. A final and pivotal image of things "falling away" epitomizes the fundamental reason for the poet's acceptance of trust in life. He declares that "what falls away is always." Therefore, what dies only appears to pass away from human presence. Roethke senses the presence of those things and people who have long been absent even though they cannot be clearly defined or apprehended by the senses.