Getting to know Roethke

Of course I've started with wikipedia, because I want the most accurate and scholarly info. First thing that catches my eye is this:
"an American poet, who published several volumes of poetry characterized by its rhythm and natural imagery."

*gasp*

I want to be an American poet who publishes volumes of poetry characterized by rhythm and imagery! lol So I think I'm headed in the right direction by choosing to look more closely into Roethke's work after being exposed to a few of his pieces in workshop this week.

His bio on PBS.org states that his influences were Blake, Yeats, and Auden so I could look more into those poets as well. My professor had a great family tree analogy about poets and I can see it at work here. Just pick a poet, find their influences, and go from there. Then your own work becomes influenced by their work and you become the newest extension on the family tree.

So now I'm reading his Collected Poems which has the full text of all of his books. UVA has it for free on e-text! Yay!

First impressions: His first book "Open House" has some rhyming, sing-songy, dare I say even emo stuff so far lol. The poems the professor handed out in class were all from his second volume, "Lost Son," and did not rhyme like the few I've read so far.

We'll see where this goes.