Question

As a boy growing up in Saginaw, Michigan, Theodore Roethke spent much of his time in a large commercial greenhouse run by his family. What details in his poem "Root Cellar" show more than a passing acquaintance with the growing things?

Answer 1

"Root Celler", a poem by Theodore Roethke is about greenhouse. Roehke's family owned a large greenhouse and much of his childhood was spent inside it.

Here is the definition of 'more than a passing acquaintance ':- to have a lot of knowledge about something.

So, the poet talks about how nothing in that dark underground storeroom of the cellar sleeps. The roots, shoots, stems, bulbs never sleep, instead they struggle to keep their generation moving forward. So the bulbs break out of the boxes in order to search for light and grow. Shoots hung over the sides of the crate like snakes. The poet is familiar with the smells associated with the cellar such as mildew, manure and rot.

All these details show that the poet knows a lot about greenhouse.