Poetry 2

Much poetry, especially that written in the 1900's, has no rhyme scheme and no meter. Such poetry is often called free verse. The American poet Theodore Roethke used no rhyme scheme and no meter in "Root Cellar" (1943). The unpredictable form of Roethke's poem echoes the unexpected behavior of the things in the cellar:

Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch,

Bulbs broke out of boxes hunting for chinks in the dark,

Shoots dangled and drooped,

Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates,

Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes.

And what a congress of stinks!

Roots ripe as old bait,

Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich,

Leaf-mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks.

Nothing would give up life:

Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.

Vocabulary:
cellar: kb. gudang dibawah tanah. 2 Inf.: tempat terakhir. This baseball is in the c. Regu baseball ini menduduki tempat terakhir.
dan : ks. lembab, basah. d. cave gua yang lembab.
ditch: kb. selokan, parit. -kkt. 1 mendaratkan diatas air (a plane). 2 Sl.: melenyapkan, menyingkirkan, membuang. to steal a car and then d. it mencuri mobil dan menyingkirkannya.
bulb: kb. 1 Elec.: bola lampu, lampu pijar, bohlam. 2 ubi-ubian. 3 pentolan. b. of a thermometer pentolan thermometer.
chink: kb. celah, sela, renggang, retak
dangle: kkt. membayang-bayangkan. -kki. menguntai, berjuntai, teruntai.
loll: kki. 1 bermalas-malas. 2 bertiduran atau bersandar secara malas.
obscene: ks. cabul, carut. o. literature pembacaan cabul.
mildew: kb. jamur, lumut. -kki. berjamur, melapuk.
crate: kb. 1 peti kayu. 2 Sl.: mobil. -kkt. memetikan, mempak(furniture).
ripe: ks. 1 matang (grain). 2 masak (fruit). 3 siap (for a revolution).
bait: kb. umpan. -kkt. 1 mengumpani. 2 menyerang. 3 menyiksa.
mold: kb. 1 cetakan (for cookies). 2 jamur (on books). -kkt. 1 membentuk (character). 2 mencetak, membentuk (dough). -molding kb. papan hias tembok.
pulpy: ks. seperti bubur empuk sekali.
rank: kb. 1 pangkat (in armed forces). 2 barisan. 3 Mil.: tingkat bawahan. -kki. menduduki. -ranking kb. kedudukan. ks. terkemuka.
silo: kb. Agri.: gudang tertutup tempat menyimpan makanan ternak. 2 Mil.: tempat peluncuran peluru (kendali) dibawah tanah (for launching missiles).
manure: kb. pupuk, rabuk. -kkt. memupuk, merabuk.
pile: kb. 1 gundukan, tumpukan (of stones, snow, sand, books). 2 tiang. 3 onggokan (of wood).
4 Phys.: kesatuan. 5 lapisan. -piles j. bawasir.-piling kb. jojol, embarau, tiang pancang.
lime: kb. 1 kapur. l. burning pembakaran kapur. 2 limau. l. juice air jeruk/limau.
slippery: ks. 1 licin (road, sidewalk).2 licik, licin (person).
plank: kb. 1 papan. 2 Pol.: bagian penting. -kkt. to p. down 1 menaruh atau meletakkan
dengan kekuatan (a book). 2 Inf.: membayar sekaligus.