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“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke can be interpreted in a few different ways. The most obvious one being that he was dancing around with his father, having so much fun that he did not want to stop. His father is very drunk though, which leads us to believe that it is no just a fun story of him and his father dancing one night. What Roethke is really trying to show us, is the abusive relationship he had with his father.
One of the ways Roethke has described the abusive relationship is through the use of verbs. To set the stage of the night, Roethke starts off the poem by saying, “The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy;” (line 1-2), which implies that his father has drank a lot. Roethke has used several verbs in the poem to describe what is going on, which give off a very violent vibe. Roethke used, “hung”, “held”, “scraped”, “beat”, and “clinging” to show us the abuse he suffered. The order in which the verbs have been positioned is interesting too. It is Roethke who “hung” on to his father, “scraped” his
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He was being abused as a child and did not know what to do to stop it. Even though his father was very drunk, he still tried to hold on and dance with him, so that he would not be abused. Roethke, being a small child, was very vulnerable and unable to protect himself. The only person who could protect him from a drunk, abusive father was his mother. She, however, was also being abused and was scared to do anything in fear of being beat again. Why is Roethke being so vague? He is still afraid to speak out the truth openly because of what has already happened. He has become brainwashed to believe that if he ever does speak out, his father will beat him again. This is why he has wrote the poem in a way to make us believe that he was just having a good time with his father, who was slightly drunk, but also showing that it was a scary time for
... This line implies that the drinking will never end and that no one can stop him from drinking no matter what you do. This poem is a poem that has beautiful imagery that consistently connects the reader to what’s going on in the actual poem like these lines from “Country Western Singer”, “And the blood I taste, the blood I swallow / Is as far away from wine / as 5:10 is for the one who dies at 5:09” (37-40). These lines have to do with the final push of the alcoholic and the fact that they lost the battle against alcoholism and did in fact pass away.
The major themes of the poem reflect the poet's own inner life and his struggle with the loss of his father. Through this complicated and intricate poem the inner feelings of the poet are made manifest through the speaker's tone towards the father. The exchange between father and son represents a magical moment in the speaker's childhood: dancing the waltz with his father. In the second stanza, the poet comments “My mother's countenance / could not unfrown itself (Roethke 7-8).” Here the poet seems to regret the fact that he hoarded his father's time after a long day at work, when his father could have been s...
My Papa’s Waltz has been compared to a generational litmus test. Depending on what generation the reader was born, could determine how the reader would interpret this poem. Each generation has its own views that have been developed in them for the language used to describe Papa in this poem. The whiskey on his breath and Papa’s hand beating on his head, both sound like a negative connotation. Depending on the experience of the reader, they can either be disturbed by these words or be drawn in closer to the poem. Theodore Roethke loved his father. Not only did he love him, but he idolized him and unfortunately lost him at an early age. This poem is a reflective memorial waltz written in iambic trimeter to honor his father and mother.
Roethke’s and Hayden’s poems use tone in the same way to show that both children ultimately love their fathers regardless of the abuse he commits. The young boy in My Papa’s Waltz is clearly very fond of his father even though his Papa abuses him. It is through the tone the young boy uses that Roethke shows how much he loves his father. This is first enforced when the boy says, “But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy” (Roethke, 3-4). The boy loves his father and he h...
The poem "My Papa's Waltz" uses imagery by especially appealing to the sense of touch. The sense of touch also helps the reader to better understand the abusive father theme. The third stanza concentrates on the actual act of abuse. The author, Roethke, describes the battle wounds on the father and son that are inflicted by the father. The father's hand "was battered on one knuckle" from hitting his son with a belt (10). This is apparent because the son's "right ear scraped...
While reading the poem the reader can imply that the father provides for his wife and son, but deals with the stress of having to work hard in a bad way. He may do what it takes to make sure his family is stable, but while doing so he is getting drunk and beating his son. For example, in lines 1 and 2, “The whisky on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy” symbolizes how much the father was drinking. He was drinking so much, the scent was too much to take. Lines 7 and 8, “My mother’s countenance, Could not unfrown itself.” This helps the reader understand the mother’s perspective on things. She is unhappy seeing what is going on which is why she is frowning. Although she never says anything it can be implied that because of the fact that the mother never speaks up just shows how scared she could be of her drunk husband. Lines 9 and 10, “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle”, with this line the reader is able to see using imagery that the father is a hard worker because as said above his knuckle was battered. The reader can also take this in a different direction by saying that his hand was battered from beating his child as well. Lastly, lines 13 and 14, “You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt” As well as the quote above this quote shows that the father was beating his child with his dirty hand from all the work the father has
"My Papa 's Waltz," by Theodore Roethke 's, is a poem about a boy who expresses his affection for his father, but at the same time expresses a sense of danger that comes from the father. The poem appears to be a snapshot in time from a child’s memory. The uplifting experience is created through the father and son’s waltz while the father’s uncontrollable movements juxtaposes the menace of the drunken father.
Although the dance between him and his father was rough and aggressive, the very fact that Roethke chose to write about the waltz indicates that it is a special moment he remembers sharing with his father. The poet has a remarkable ability to describe the moment and not his feelings. This is what makes "My Papa's Waltz" so interesting and leaves so much to interpretation.
...perpetrated on the small child (13). Tapped or stroked may have been a more tactile image designated in the place of the word “beat” if this was truly a frolicking moment between a father and son. The next line, “With a palm caked hard by dirt,” the speaker uses this syntax to sympathize with the father and excusing his actions based his working class upbringing (14). The last two lines of the poem, “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt,” as the action diminishes, the child is clearly grasping in terror, afraid to let go of his father for fear of reprisal (15, 16). The word “clinging” is a denotation of the speaker adhering to a memory of his past.
Indeed, the satirical tone of this poem suggests that the speaker is somewhat critical of his father. The whiskey smell, the roughness, the inconsiderate and reckless actions are under scrutiny. The mother's frowning countenance suggests she too is rather unhappy with the scene. However, the winning tone of the poem is the light and comical one.
The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a story of a father and son and the night they danced around the house. He says “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” tells us that the father has been drinking, “but
In the late nineteen forties, Theodore Roethke emerged with a poem that has been the source of much debate. "My Papa's Waltz," is an account of a relationship between son and father. Alas, many readers who are exposed to this piece fail to note the love present in the connection of the characters. In an attempt to illuminate the author's true intention several factors must be examined. After several examinations of Roethke's poem as well as learning of his childhood it is evident that this poem does not suggest an abusive environment, but is an appreciative account of the love and playfulness between the characters. Therefore, a successful interpretation of this poem will look beyond the four stanzas and study not only the history of the writing, but the life of the poet.
The entire poem had the same type of diction; the type of diction in this poem was colloquial diction. Meinke wrote “this is a poem to my son Peter / whom I have hurt a thousand times” (“(untitled)” 1-2). When I read those two lines, I immediately picture the speaker getting up in front of a group of people to explain what he did to his son. Throughout the entire poem you feel like someone is talking to you about a horrible experience, or you feel like a friend is telling you this story. The poem’s horrible experience is talking about the parent and how the parent abused the child. The parent believed the child knew he was perfect and could handle being beat up. Meinke used this type of diction to prove that abuse happens every single day and
A specific example of a man who tosses three girls out the window and then plunges to his own death serves to show us the horror of the situation. the poem then continues on to tell us of in humane conditions in Scotland. It ends by telling us about the slaves who picked and planted the cotton. The speaker seems to be telling us a story in order to inform us of what's going on in the shirt industry.Robert Pinsky doesn't have many obvious examples of diction in his work, although hints of it can be found. There is a simile in the first line of the tenth stanza.
The one that tells this story isn’t related to the poem in anyway. The speaker is just one of many people that watch these scene happen, either too caught up in their own world or just don’t care what happens to the child. In the beginning the speaker says, “...whipping the boy again…” This implies that this isn’t the first time that the child is beat by his mother for all to see. The child is beat outside because the speaker says how the boy goes through elephant ears and dusty zinnias. These two are actually plants which clarify that the child was beat by his mother outside in public. The speaker isn’t affected by this most likely for two reasons. The first and second are closely tied together with the first being