Root Cellar Poem Analysis

In the famous poem, Root Cellar, author Theodore Roethke uses immensely visual and sensory images. The reader not only experiences going down into the cellar through the intense description, but also through the imagery, along with a few powerful similes that give life to the root cellar’s contents and creates a sense of awareness for the reader.
In the first line, the words “dank as a ditch,” are an example of a simile that brings some clarity to the cellar because now there is something to compare it with. Since the reader knows that a ditch collects water and maybe even smells, it becomes clear that this isn’t a clean cellar, it is dirty and wet. The second line uses a bit of alliteration (bulbs, broke, boxes), to further illustrate the