Theodore Roethke Quotes

Come clean with a child heart Laugh as peaches in the summer wind Let rain on a house roof be a song Let the writing on your face be a smell of apple orchards on late June.

In my solitude, many miles from men and houses, I am in a childishly happy and carefree state of mind, which you are incapable of understanding unless someone explains it to you.

Today, in every wave of every ocean, I see our children playing and dancing. Today, in every plant, tree, and mountain, I see our children growing in freedom.

The grapes on a score of rolling hills are red with autumn flame. Across Sonoma Mountain wisps of sea fog are stealing. The afternoon sun smoulders in the drowsy sky. I have everything to make me glad I am alive. I am filled with dreams and mysteries. I am all sun and air and sparkle. I am vitalized, organic.

He was in love with life as an ant on a summer blade of grass.

Over the shoulders and slopes of the dune I saw the white daisies go down to the sea, A host in the sunshine, an army in June, The people God sends us to set our heart free.

On the blue summer evenings, I will go along the paths, And walk over the short grass, as I am pricked by the wheat: Daydreaming I will feel the coolness on my feet. I will let the wind bathe my bare head. I will not speak, I will have no thoughts: But infinite love will mount in my soul; And I will go far, far off, like a gypsy, through the countryside - as happy as if I were a woman. "Sensation

Dreaming by the river, I dedicated my imagination to water, to clear, green water, the water that makes the meadows green.

With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?

I always felt the world cannot fall apart as long as free men see the rainbow, feel the rain and hear the laugh of a child.

I go to the ocean to calm down, to reconnect with the creator, to just be happy.

Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.

I like going into nature and that's where I'm happiest.

The most lasting and pure gladness comes to me from my gardens.

I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. I was living peaceably when people began to speak bad of me. Now I can eat well, sleep well and be glad. I can go everywhere with a good feeling.

The happiest days of my youth were when my brother and I would run through the woods and feel quite safe.

My soul lives in Montana. It's where I fly-fish for trout.

Whenever I think of my birthplace, Walton-on-Thames, my reference first and foremost is the river. I love the smell of the river; love its history, its gentleness. I was aware of its presence from my earliest years. Its majesty centered me, calmed me, was a solace to a certain extent.

I laugh with the sun, and mist that tries so hard to seduce the mountains.

The simplest of simplest things makes me happy. I love small gestures and nature in life.

It is the passion inside me that means I keep going. I love what I do, and I think I am lucky to do it. When I am riding a quiet country road, I hear the birds singing and think, 'I am in my office now.'

If I'm by the water, I'm happy.

I absolutely fell in love with being on the water and the peace and freedom that you get being on the water in a single boat.

I'm just delighted to be living, to be able to have a simple conversation, to feel a ray of sunlight on my skin and listen to the breeze move through the leaves of a tree.