Beginning of Essay
Theodore Roethke focuses on a single woman in this poem, as is obvious from the title. This is a woman that he puts on a pedestal, but his description makes this seemingly grandiose praise apropos. To appropriate this description, he uses alliteration and diction ....

Middle of Essay
.... the importance of the person). The placement of these words is strategic, emphasizing the natural sound and feel to the poem as well as the natural softness to her disposition. In the third stanza, this is most obvious: "She played it quick, she played it light and loose; / My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees; / Her several parts could keep a pure repose, / Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose / (She moved in circles, and those circles moved)." Here, there are almost a dozen leading or strong trailing "s"'s weaving through the words, outlining the form one can picture as her "several parts keep a pure repose" and "one hip quiver"s as she "moved ....