The Reckoning

The Reckoning
by Theodore Roethke

All profits disappear: the gain
Of ease, the hoarded, secret sum;
And now grim digits of old pain
Return to litter up our home.

We hunt the cause of ruin, add,
Subtract, and put ourselves in pawn;
For all our scratching on the pad,
We cannot trace the error down.

What we are seeking is a fare
One way, a chance to be secure:
The lack that keeps us what we are,
The penny that usurps the poor.

http://gawow.com/roethke/poems/28.html

Roethke titles his poem “The Reckoning,” which at first glance gives you mental images of revenge of a lover, or some other emotional situation that involved getting what is due to you. But instead we are presented with another picture of drama, this one being incurred by “numbers” or taxes. I love how Roethke is able to twist the meanings or words around and use them in fresh ways to make his poems appealing and witty. He uses slant rhyme in stanza two, so the rhyme scheme is abac. In this poem he has end rhymed the first and third line of the first two stanzas, and in the third used eye-rhyme. Roethke is able to make his poem flow by using iambic tetrameter. He also uses internal rhyme with alliteration that also helps with the flow. In addition, Roethke also makes use of imagery. We are able to see the people in the poem frantically work go over math on a legal pad trying to figure out their mistake. He also juxtaposes each image of addition with something that takes away, or subtracts from it to keep in mind the “reckoning” of his subjects, creating logical poetry.