Roethke poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, presents a father and son spending quality time together after coming home from a day of work. As the small boy interacts with his dad, the smell of whisky coming off his dad’s breath could make the boy dizzy. They romped around the kitchen while the mother’s face could not unfrown itself. As the wrestling and aggravation come to a waltzing to the bed, the small boy clings to his dad’s shirt not wanting to leave his dad.
“My Papa’s Waltz” presents a man reminiscing on a happy memory that he has of his father. Roethke shows readers through a childhood memory the emotions of love by word choice. Throughout the poem, he portrays his feelings by using ambiguous words for readers to interpret his unconditional love for his father. In the first stanza, the boy says, “But I hung on like death: / …show more content…
Death is a very scary subject to people. Roethke chooses that word choice to portray that the boy was not going to give up. Roethke uses the word waltzing to show that the father is in control of his own beat in which the boy is trying to keep up. In the second stanza, “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf;” Roethke conveys the mother’s feeling. Although the father and son are making a mess, she sees they are having fun together (5-6). As the poem continues in the third stanza, “The hand that held my wrist / Was battered on one knuckle;” shows readers the boy’s father is a hard worker (9-10). As Roethke uses, such a strong word to describe the father’s knuckle, he portrays the simple image of the father’s love for his family as he works hard to provide for them. As the father and son’s waltzing becomes more forceful, the boy’s “right ear scraped a buckle”
“My Papa’s Waltz” presents a man reminiscing on a happy memory that he has of his father. Roethke shows readers through a childhood memory the emotions of love by word choice. Throughout the poem, he portrays his feelings by using ambiguous words for readers to interpret his unconditional love for his father. In the first stanza, the boy says, “But I hung on like death: / …show more content…
Death is a very scary subject to people. Roethke chooses that word choice to portray that the boy was not going to give up. Roethke uses the word waltzing to show that the father is in control of his own beat in which the boy is trying to keep up. In the second stanza, “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf;” Roethke conveys the mother’s feeling. Although the father and son are making a mess, she sees they are having fun together (5-6). As the poem continues in the third stanza, “The hand that held my wrist / Was battered on one knuckle;” shows readers the boy’s father is a hard worker (9-10). As Roethke uses, such a strong word to describe the father’s knuckle, he portrays the simple image of the father’s love for his family as he works hard to provide for them. As the father and son’s waltzing becomes more forceful, the boy’s “right ear scraped a buckle”