Dancing With the Unknown: Finding Joy in Roethke’s “Once More, The Round”
Roethke invites us into a world where wonder outweighs certainty and where the soul discovers its truest rhythm by embracing what cannot be fully known.
Once More, The Round
Theodore Roethke
What’s greater, Pebble or Pond?
What can be known? The Unknown.
My true self runs toward a Hill
More! O More! visible.
Now I adore my life
With the Bird, the abiding Leaf,
With the Fish, the questing Snail,
And the Eye altering All;
And I dance with William Blake
For love, for Love’s sake;
And everything comes to One,
As we dance on, dance on, dance on.
Reflection
Roethke’s Once More, The Round reminds us that life’s deepest truths rarely arrive through certainty—they unfold through wonder. Pebble or pond, known or unknown, the poem urges us to move toward what expands the heart. Roethke celebrates a world alive with connection: bird, leaf, fish, snail—each image a reminder that our joy grows when we see ourselves as part of something larger. By dancing with William Blake “for love’s sake,” he points us toward the unity underlying all things. The poem invites us to rediscover awe and let it reshape the way we see ourselves and the world.
As you read this poem, ask yourself:
How does Roethke’s dance with the unknown inspire you to approach your own life with more wonder, trust, or openness?