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Theodore Roethke's The Auction

561 Words3 Pages

In Theodore Roethke’s “The Auction,” the speaker is a man reflecting on his past transition to moral maturity. The speaker arrives home to find all of his most treasured possessions; A threadbare coat of pride, a broken chair of honor and other characteristics of youth, or lack of morality and honesty. He watches on with hope as all of his vices are given away and he is left with merely his “unencumbered will” (line 15).
The poem begins with the word “Once,” implying that the speaker is referring to an occurrence in his past. He describes himself initially as “purse-proud” (line 1) signifying that he takes great pride in his material wealth. He then illustrates a scene in which his “choice possessions” are on a lawn, being auctioned off to …show more content…

Another item is “[i]llusion’s trinkets, splendid for the young,” (line 6) signifying that the speaker no longer needs them, as he is no longer young. The last item mentioned is a “chair of honor, with a missing rung,” (line 8) implying that his honor has been damaged.
The sale continued for some time, during which the speaker watched on optimistically as all of his vices are redistributed to new owners. Finally, he departs his home with nothing but his “unencumbered will,” having separated himself from all of the “rubbish of confusion.” (line 16).
The poem moves in a circular fashion, ending in a way similar to how it began. The speaker begins by returning to his house and ends by leaving his house. A variety of diction is used, including motions words (fell, rose, beat faster, rolled, whipping up), monetary words (possessions, purse-proud, bargains, bidders, sale), positive and uplifting words (rose, unencumbered, splendid) and colloquial slang (whipping up a sale, fat words rolled, the spiel ran on) . Another common style of diction used is the speaker’s actions (I found, I did not move, I left, my spirits rose). There are also several instances of contrasting language, such as when the speaker said “My spirits rose each time the hammer fell.” (line 13)

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