Using Rose's example from GT, and MaryAnn's suggestion of a thread on interpretation, let's discuss interpretation in general and use examples from Roehtke's 'Root Cellar'. It's not a poem I'm familiar with, I could certainly use the practice *grin*.

It would be interesting to see what other's have to say.


Root Cellar

Theodore Roethke

Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch,
Bulbs broke out of boxes hunting for chinks in the dark,
Shoots dangled and drooped,
Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates,
Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes.
And what a congress of stinks!
Roots ripe as old bait,
Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich,
Leaf-mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks.
Nothing would give up life:
Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.


[This message has been edited by Jerry Glenn Hartwig (edited December 12, 2007).]

I'll have a go at this. Let's all keep in mind that the first take shouldn't be controlling at all and that variety in interpretation is good.


Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch,

Refusing to sleep--that is, to die--and at the same time being "dank" gets the brain thinking about things that are "undead" so this is already "horror movie" imagery.

Bulbs broke out of boxes

Think "coffins."

hunting for chinks in the dark,

Shoots dangled and drooped,
Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates,

Now we've got phallic associations as well. Or maybe images of louche lounge lizards lolling.

Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes.

"Evil" and "snake" bring in Eden and sin. The snake also continues the phallic imagery.

And what a congress of stinks!

"Congress" is an amazing word choice, bringing in both "government corruption" and "sexual congress" in two syllables.

Roots ripe as old bait,
Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich,
Leaf-mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks.

I read this stretch as mainly literal description, but here we see one of the few positive words in the poem: "rich." Another one will appear very soon--

Nothing would give up life:
Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.

"Dirt" is the one thing is these lines maintaining the evil direction of most of these word choices: we use it to mean gossip about wrongdoing. That it keeps breathing can be read as "the gossip keeps circulating." But we also say "dull as dirt," and the fact that this dirt keeps breating is un-dull, and hopeful. There's a lot of rich contradiction here.

Notice the somersault the diction has done? After all that evil, these struggling things are just trying for life, for breath.

If you ask me to give the poem just one interpretation it would sound something like this: Life--human living and struggling--is nasty, life is rotten, hooray for life.

I think an important aspect of this poem is the tense. It would not be the same poem if it began "Nothing sleeps in that cellar..." and continued in that vein. The habitual past tense "would", it seems to me, especially in the context of the other poems that surround this one in Roethke's collections, makes this into a childhood remembrance, and even the conclusions being drawn are the thoughts and feelings of the child at the time. This was a child who saw that the world was dank but filled with a life force, etc. But let's not overplay the dankness. To a child, the congress of stinks, the snake-like images, the "evil necks," may be intimations of something bad but ultimately can be fun and exciting. This is not an adult in a dungeon but a child exploring the excitement of a cellar and emerging with wonderment at the energy of life that he found even in this spooky setting.

I don't know, Roger. I disagree with MaryAnn about the political implications of 'congress', but there's a lot sexuality implied - congress, obscenity, the post-coital condition of the plants - all indications of life making the struggle despite the odds.

I could see this as the memories someone undergoing puberty - even on a philosophical level, trying to work out the morality of sexuality in the context of right and wrong (looking for chinks of light ?) - but I can't see it as the memories of a child.

Just first impressions. I haven't looked at it intensely, yet.

"Child" is right, I think, in the sense of "the household's younger generation"--a person in the home of his/her family of origin. The person could certainly be of adolescent age, though I'm not sure precise age matters. I think relationship does. The N. is curious about all this secret, smelly persistent activity in the dark.

To me, this poem is linked to Yeats's "foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart." The dirtiness of sex and violence is linked to the id and the unconscious, source of life and source of creativity. It's a mystery, hidden from the light but fully alive. It's the root of everything.

Susan

MaryAnn - I accept the correction. My apologies to Roger.

Nice interpretations.

I too noticed how much the poem softened up at the end, as if the poet found a sweet space for a 'small' boy to breathe as well. I see the 'dirt' -plain, poor, and dull as his feeling about the child, himself, and a bit of forgiveness for his young fears and ongoing fascination for all that is hidden, smelly, sexual, and just plain strange.
Thanks, Dee

Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch,
Bulbs broke out of boxes hunting for chinks in the dark,
Shoots dangled and drooped,
Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates,

We shouldn't overlook the role played by sound-patterns in generating meaning. The predominating "duh" and "buh" sounds contribute to the tone of fascinated revulsion.

To me this is about the irrational persistence of life against horrifying odds. Police states, alien environments of all oppressive kinds. The obscene and heroic persistence of existence. And the poem means the same thing at its basic literal level and extends to everything anywhere.
It does use alliteration. st and L for slime. The sound and flow are the music of the meaning.
Janet