American poet and Pulitzer Prize recipient who is known for such collections as The Waking, The Far Field, and Words for the Wind. He was a two-time recipient of the National Book Award for Poetry.
He studied at the University of Michigan and at Harvard University.
His name was given to an alley in the city of Seattle.
He married Beatrice O'Connell, one of his former students.
Fellow Poet Laureate James Dickey controversially lauded Roethke as the greatest American poet.
