My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

“My Papa’s Waltz”, written by Theodore Roethke, uses strong sentence structure to allow his poem to portray several different interpretations. He is able to use imagery to show the speaker and his father waltzing throughout their house, but is it in a negative or positive way? After I first read this I sensed negative actions taking place, particularly abusive, but after reading the poem a few more times I visualized a more positive perspective. One part about a poem I personally enjoy is it can be seen in several different ways. In a way this allows a more personal approach. When I first read “My Papa’s Waltz” I figured when Roethke used the sentence meant the father character was an alcoholic and the story would be taken in a unfavorable direction. which then lead me to think an abusive relationship was present. However, I began to read deeper into the poem and realized the young boy character was enjoying a waltz with his father. The son seems to dearly love his father when he says in two sentence. It seemed they were not particularly good at this dance since the By the two individuals doing messing up the kitchen seem to ultimately frustrate the mother …show more content…
Personally, I did not grow up with a father figure, and being able to mischievously dance around my father’s feet is something I would do anything for. A missing figure as solid as a father can leave several voids in a person’s life. This poem was able to fill these voids for a short period time as I visualized myself dancing on my fathers feet. I cannot wait to be able to do something this simple with my children. Thinking of this brought forth so much excitement! Life continues forward rather than goes backwards and I know my future only holds great things. I cannot wait to give my children something I never had, a father. Through all this feelings of sadness, grief, and bareness, elation, and contentment were