A bond between a child and a father can be very strong no matter the difficulties they have to face. Sometimes, the conflict can be as simple as an addiction that could separate the two. The narrator of the poem is looking back on a fond memory he has had with his father. As he recollects on the past, the reader gets to see how much love he has for his dad. The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” written by Theodore Roethke shows how a little boy can look past his dad’s faults and still want to be a part of his father’s day. To begin, the poem starts out with the two playing along together. Roethke opens with, "The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy" (lines 1-2). The father is quite drunk. He is very likely to not be able to function
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Roethke then describes, “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf” (5-6). Basically, they are playing around to the point where they are knocking things down in the kitchen. They are probably twirling, swirling, and prancing about. Elbows are flying about and hitting everything in the path. Roethke declares, “My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself” (7-8). Many moms would be upset if their dishes were falling and breaking due to the children and father being rowdy and obnoxious. The child’s mom might not speak and say she is furious, but body language and facial expressions are …show more content…
Roethke illustrates, “You beat time on my head / With a palm caked hard by dirt” (13-14). Most likely, there is not any music playing in the background. Nonetheless, the father still tries to incorporate the music by tapping on his son’s head probably a three-fourths time measure. The viewer could guess that he also might have fallen on his way home according to his dirty hands. Roethke concludes, “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). They dance and dance all day long, and as bed time comes around, they still dance making their way up to the boy’s bed. The boy is not ready for it to be over. He is not ready to let his father go. He still wants to dance and enjoy his dad’s
Roethke then describes, “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf” (5-6). Basically, they are playing around to the point where they are knocking things down in the kitchen. They are probably twirling, swirling, and prancing about. Elbows are flying about and hitting everything in the path. Roethke declares, “My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself” (7-8). Many moms would be upset if their dishes were falling and breaking due to the children and father being rowdy and obnoxious. The child’s mom might not speak and say she is furious, but body language and facial expressions are …show more content…
Roethke illustrates, “You beat time on my head / With a palm caked hard by dirt” (13-14). Most likely, there is not any music playing in the background. Nonetheless, the father still tries to incorporate the music by tapping on his son’s head probably a three-fourths time measure. The viewer could guess that he also might have fallen on his way home according to his dirty hands. Roethke concludes, “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). They dance and dance all day long, and as bed time comes around, they still dance making their way up to the boy’s bed. The boy is not ready for it to be over. He is not ready to let his father go. He still wants to dance and enjoy his dad’s