My Papa's Waltz Imagery

Theodore Roethke's poem My Papa's Waltz depicts a unique portrayal of a father from a child's point of view. The words in his poem bring to life a memory that he is clearly fond of and are written in such a way that the audience will be able to have a glimpse into his experience as a child. Roethke's recollection of a child's experience presents vivid imagery that lends the audience the opportunity to make assumptions about the author's father. Through the vivid images that Roethke's lines provoke, the audience learns of the father's habits, general nature, and influence on his child. The audience learns of the father's habits through the vivid imagery presented in the poem. Roethke writes "the whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy" (1-2). These lines imply simply that Roethke's father drinks whiskey. At the end of the first stanza the author states that "such waltzing was not easy" (4), hinting that the experience of clinging on to his father and smelling whiskey on his his breath is not foreign to him. The author has had practice dealing with the dizziness caused by the whiskey on his father's breath and this let's the audience know that it is a common occurrence. The audience is also able to infer that the author's father is strong and hardworking and is the main provider for his family. The vivid image of the father's …show more content…
A majority of the lines in Roethke's poem present the audience with evidence of the relationship between the child and his father. The lines "then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt"(15-16) imply that the relationship between the father and the author is one of comfort and nurturing. The author is emotionally connected to his father and longs to spend time with him. The father's persona greatly affects his son and the way in which they behave when they are