In “My Papa’s Waltz,” Roethke uses an extended metaphor, but uses different language to describe it as the poem is read. “My Papa’s Waltz” has the metaphor of dancing throughout the poem, more correctly, waltzing between a father and son. Everything from the description of the fluidity of the dance to the speakers feeling towards the dance helps create a stronger meaning behind the metaphor. Roethke uses dancing as a metaphor for the relationship between the son and the father, according to the son. Roethke is also able to create a unique atmosphere with his word choice.…
The poem my papas waltz was written by Theodore Roethke as a way to look back on his life. Yet some have read his poem and think his father was abusive. That somewhat makes sense… if you don’t read it right. Most connect alcohol with violence, not knowing that some can drink copious amounts of alcohol and not be drunk. Such is the case for the father in the…
The beatings were so hard that the "pans slid from the kitchen shelf'(Stanza 2 line 2, Roethke), it wasn't easy for him, it was hard, "Such Waltzing was not easy" (Stanza 1- line 4, Roethke) The child lost his childhood because of his father by saying that the father beats him, "Time on my head" (Stanza 4 line 1, Roethke) , but never accused his father of that. The author made us look towards the mother accusingly, he mentions who "could not unfrown 'her' countenance' (Stanza 2, line 3, Roethke). I was undignified with her because she made it seem like it wasn't her job to stop the father from beating her son. If that was my child, I would never allow my husband to beat my child like that; I would defend my child with everything thatImageI…
In class, we reviewed two poems, Ballad of Birmingham and My Papa’s Waltz. From a first glance, these poems couldn’t be anymore different. Besides, the fact that these poems have different topics, the poems differ in word choice and imagery. In My Papa’s Waltz, the author, Theodore Roethke, uses phrases such as, “palm caked hard by mud”…
In "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke, the speaker is describing his abusive relationship with his alcoholic father. His father's "waltz" is a metaphor for his drunken beatings. The poem depicts a father chasing his son around the house, while the mother stands and watches dejectfully, unable to stop her husband from his relentless "waltzing."…
Imagine being a child that loves their father unconditionally. That love is more powerful than thinking of the harm he does is doing to you. “My Papa's Waltz” by Theodore Roethke can be interpreted in multiple ways. The poem could be interpreted as a parent abusing his child due to alcoholism or a child dancing with his father. In the poem, Theodore reminisces about his youth of tangled emotions of fear and unconditional love towards his father besides the imperfections his father has.…
Waltz, Rhythm, and Rhyme A waltz is a rhythmed dance of partners that twirl around a dance floor. If said partners are words that rhyme and rhythm, and the dance floor made of paper; literary works of a poet are created. Theodore Roethke was a poet that mastered this skill and created “My Papa’s Waltz.” The choice of words and meter of lines send your imagination on a journey envisioning what is unfolding from the words set forth before you.…
Katy Boozer Mrs. Geren English 102-48 March 17, 2017 A Father and Son After first reading and analyzing the poem titled "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke, a negative or positive feeling could be shaped. Because of a portion of the words in this poem, it is reasonable why this sort of response could be evoked. Basic speculation allows one to better comprehend what Roethke may truly mean. Throughout the poem, the rhyme scheme, mood, figurative language, the tone of the author, and the possible alternate interpretations of parts of the poem create a story about a young boy and his father in a loving voice.…
Naturally, the use of imagery in the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is an emotional memory that the author experiences with his father late at night. To understand it more clear , take note from the title. It’s his father's waltz not his dance, he’s only along for the ride. Each stanza presents a different part of his father's dance. In the first stanza , it talks about whiskey on his breath which means his father is an alcoholic and was intoxicated while he picked up his son then began to dance.…
The poem, "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke, depict a conflict between a father and a son. The son portray his father as a drunk person, and his relationship with his father wasn't a lovely one. They usually waltz, a smooth dance that require close position. The son usually smell whiskey in his father's breath, which mean that the son was somewhat tall or his father short enough. Though they didn't have a close relationship, Roethke never state that he didn't like his father, whether he stated that he hung on like death.…
He Loves Me In the poem "My Papa 's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, most readers believe that it is about abuse. Is it possible? Of course it is, it depends on who’s reading the poem and their interpretation of the poem. The use of language, diction, imagery, and symbols, along with the tone helps to influence how readers come to their own conclusion on what the poem is really about.…
“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.…
While “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” differ in the attitudes and tones of their speakers, they are alike in the complex family relationships and themes of familial love, masculinity and sacrifice, and nostalgic youth that they communicate to the reader. A close-reading of the poems, with special attention paid to the speakers and the ideas they are trying to get across, can end up telling far more about Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden than they may like. The speaker in “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a small boy having a grand old time waltzing with his father in the kitchen before bed. His father is a little rough with him, keeping time on his noggin and accidently scraping his ear against his belt buckle on every…
When the reader first analyzes the poem, it naturally comes of as harsh or scary. The first thought that comes to mind is that the drunken father is abusing the child. Although after further analysis of the poem it seems as though that is not the case. The poem doesn’t sound as though it was the happiest memory of the child’s life, but it wasn’t a memory he feared either. In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” written by Theodore Roethke, the speaker’s experience seems to be a positive one based on the rhythm and word choice.…
“The whiskey on his breath could make a small boy dizzy;”(cite) This line in the poem describes to the reader how drunk the father was, but how it did not matter to the young boy that his father smelled of whiskey so strong. The lines that followed tells of how the young lad holds on “like death” to his father not to lose his grip during the dance. The dance was rough for the young boy, with his father missing steps and knocking things over. “Such waltzing was not easy.…