"The Waking" & "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"

Roethke conveys many life lessons in his poem, "The Waking". In the first line of the Waking, "I learn by going where I have to go", means that death is inevitable.  We should therefore make the most of what life has to offer.   In comparison to the rest of the poem, it seems that the poet feels it is his obligation to explore as much as he can about the world given the short amount of time he has left on earth.  In contrast to the last line, in the first stanza the poet realizes that death is like a step away, so he therefore appreciates the opportunity given to him to have set foot onto earth.  In the second stanza, “I hear my being dance from ear to ear", the poet is on a journey to understand as much as possible about what life has to offer before the last journey to the eternal destiny.  In stanza 3, he is truly grateful for being surrounded by loved ones, and treasures mother nature for being so good to him. In the fourth stanza, the poet is trying to convey to the reader to accept the challenges that life has to offer just as a "lowly worm [struggles as it] climbs up a winding stair". In the final line, "I learn by going where I have to go", the poet loves the opportunity given to grow as he journeys through life. Roethke is willing to accept the challenges life has to offer and take the path in life he has to take and accepts the challenges that may come with it versus the one he wants to take. In this last line the poet teaches us that is our mission to find our purpose in life.  The process of finding our purpose in life takes a lot of dedication given the short amount of time we have on earth. 

In "The Ones Who Walk Away Ffrom Omelas", we see that societies are not appreciative of what they have, and they feel that luxury can be achieved only by torturing and dehumanizing the feeble.  The ones who left were the strong ones who were against all this cruelty.  The gave up, all of their luxuries in order to save a person from torture.  It was their own decision to leave in order to find a more purposeful and meaningful life free of guilt. The ones who walk away from Omelas's society display the theme in "The Waking" because despite their mind telling them to stay, because it is difficult to let go of luxuries, their heart told them to leave because it is the moral thing to do and it is therefore the path in life they "have" to take.