The Sloth by Theodore Roethke

In moving-slow he has no Peer.
You ask him something in his Ear,
He thinks about it for a Year;

And, then, before he says a Word
There, upside down (unlike a Bird),
He will assume that you have Heard-

A most Ex-as-per-at-ing Lug.
But should you call his manner Smug,
He'll sigh and give his Branch a Hug;

Then off again to Sleep he goes,
Still swaying gently by his Toes,
And you just know he knows he knows

Roethke suffered great loss in his childhood. He lost both his father and uncle. He also lost the greenhouses his father owned. They were the one place he felt at home and at peace. As he grew older he began to feel more and more isolated from other people. He often felt he was missing, or left out of some big secret that made everything make sense.  He went through phases of deep manic depression. It is thought that he wrote “The Sloth” during one of these times, but because he was never diagnosed there is no way to be sure.

“The Sloth” deals with Roethke’s frustration at the slow pace humans move at. If he had been in a manic state he would have felt that everyone else truly was moving slower. In the poem the speaker asked the sloth a question but is never given an answer. The speaker is so maddened by the fact that the sloth won’t answer. He knows the sloth knows and that frustrates him even more because the sloth is such a lazy, slow moving creature.  

Roethke seemed to have felt as if something of himself was missing; as if he needed just one piece of information to make everything clear to him.  He was exasperated by the slowness of humanity but also the inability to find all the answers before too much time passes. There is an inner battle between wanting time to slow down to gain more knowledge but also wanting people to move faster. This concept is literally paralleled by the tension between the sloth and the speaker.

The tone of this poem seems very carefree and loose, but a closer look proves otherwise. The turn in the poem occurs in the last line. Without this line, the whole meaning of the poem would change. This is where Roethke lets himself into the role of the speaker. HE  knows the sloth knows, not the speaker. The poem becomes so much more personal after the last line is read.

 I find it almost heartbreaking. Roethke feels so left out, almost lost. He is so close to the answers only to be turned away by a lazy creature. I feel his life would have been so much less painful had he gotten the medical treatment he needed. But then I wonder, would he have been the amazing poet he was?