My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

My Papa’s Waltz Sometimes memories are more powerful than the events themselves. Theodore Roethke utilized the poetic devices of similes, metaphors, and alliterations to demonstrate a vivid experience of the power of a memory. Theodore Roethke, a well-known poet, wrote a narrative poem called My Papa’s Waltz. The theme of the poem is to cherish memories that occur with your family such as: Dad, Mom, and Grandparents. The subject of the poem is to show that the reader should enjoy the fun times you have with your close friends and family before its too late. My Papa’s Waltz is a narrative poem because Theodore Roethke, is telling a story about him dancing and having a fun time with his father. Theodore Roethke wrote a poem to honor his …show more content…
Theodore Roethke had a father that was fighting cancer and he wanted to write this poem to honor the death of his father. In line fifteen and sixteen it says “Then waltzed me off to bed, still clinging to your shirt” meaning that the speaker didn’t want the event to end.
My Papa’s Waltz is one of the most argumentative poem around the word because it can give a reader many feelings such as: confusion, happiness, and also anger. Roethke wrote a poem of him dancing with his father. Many readers think that this poem is about his father abusing him and causes other readers to think it’s about the journey of his father through cancer. Theodore made his poem clear when he said the word “waltz” meaning he’s dancing with his father.
Theodore’s Roethke’s poem My Papa’s Waltz as a reader is one of the greatest poems ever written because it gives readers a feeling of many emotions. Theodore made it clear that memories mean so much more than the actual events. Reading the poem once won’t give readers the general meaning of the poem because it is well written and also gives readers different sensations. As a reader it relates a lot because my father would dance with me. Reading the