“So take the lively air” is a line from the poem “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke (1908-1963), one of my favourite poets. In his life and work he searched for a truth that was rooted in the mysteries of the relationship with the natural world, the realm of God and the unconscious, inner self. Roethke himself described this search as „a hunt, a drive toward God; an effort to break through the barrier of rational experience.“ It comes as no surprise then that breathing features in many of his poems.
The Waking
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
Theodore Roethke
Here is also a recording, with an animated photo of Theordore Roethke:
Source: Theodore Roethke, “The Waking” from Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, Knopf Doubleday Publishing, 1953