Elegy for Jane Themes

"Elegy for Jane" certainly addresses Love, but it isn't quite what we might expect. We tend to put this big, complex emotion into three main categories: familial (the love felt between family membe...

In "Elegy for Jane," happiness is a delicate, but highly contagious state—kind of like mono. It is something that, once achieved, can disappear suddenly and completely. Roethke's memories of Jane...

We hate to be a Debbie Downer, but unfortunately sadness seems to be a much more persistent emotion than happiness. In "Elegy for Jane," once sadness shows up it seems to be just about unshakable....

Roethke uses nature imagery to convey the grief and sense of loss in "Elegy for Jane." But he also uses nature imagery to show Jane's happiness. Roethke found answers and solace in the natural worl...

"Elegy for Jane" is, well, an elegy, so death is going to come up. Much of the poem is spent remembering Jane as she was in life. But the core of the poem deals with the speaker's feelings about th...