"Elegy for Jane" by Theodore Roethke (poetry)

An elegy or his student Jane, who died when thrown by a horse. I'm not sure what he means by pickerel - it might refer to fish or to pale eyes.

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Entertainment

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• Elegy
• Jane
• Theodore
• Roethke
• poem
• poetry
• reading

[chuckroast7]

I see you also like this poem, and read it at a much slower tempo. I hear the sadness in it, but also the glowing, lively descriptive tribute to her vibrance. Try googling a picture of a pickerel, a lovely Great Lakes fish. BTW I also read The Cremation of Sam McGee in a much more rollicking tone. Is it really so somber? You have a wonderful speaking voice---what hve you read that's upbeat? Charles Ramie

[SpokenVerse]

I took the tempo from the line "Over this damp grave I speak the words of my love" which defines the circumstances and makes it a soliloquy and extempore. That's why I chose that picture of him too.

Sam McGee doesn't suit my voice, I know, I just wanted to have a go. I tend to be sombre rather than upbeat, but try "The Diplomatic Platypus" or "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God".

[MrMattTheKnife]

You are one of the best readers I have ever heard. I had never heard this poem before, and after hearing your reading of it, I never want to hear it read by anyone else. Beautiful. Itself a piece of art. - matt