My Papa's Waltz Analysis Essay

“My Papa’s Waltz Tone”

“My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem that can be both interpreted as “bitter” and as “sweet”. Depending upon how one views it, there are both parts that represent “bitter” and also parts that represent “sweet”. The parts that are seen as “sweet” visually describe the boys affection to his father and also the bonding between the father and son. The parts that are seen as “bitter” visually describes the fathers appearance and his actions. The quote “Life is about change. Sometimes its painful, sometimes its beautiful, but most of the time its both” from the television show smallville” can be related to the poem. The boy in the poem has beautiful and painful memories with his father, and he has to learn that life is always a little bit of both. “ In Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” imagery is used throughout the poem to create its …show more content…
The bonding of the two represents the “sweet” parts of the poem. One example of this imagery is the title “My Papa’s Waltz”. The dance is a memory between the father and son, it was the fathers way of showing his son he loved him. The young boy and his father would dance around the kitchen every chance they had as their way of connecting. Another example of this imagery is “We romped until the pans” (Line 5). The two would recklessly dance around the kitchen knocking things off the shelves while they were dancing and playing around. The memories of the two making a mess in the kitchen is a “sweet” memory of him and his father. The line “Hung on like death” (line 3) is also a good example of how the father and son bonded. The young boy would cling to his father so that he wouldn 't fall while the two were energetically dancing around the kitchen. The boy clinging to his father was a connecting moment between the two. The imagery of the father and son bonding helps develop the “sweet” in the poems bittersweet