While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to illustrate an affectionate memory of a dance between his father and his younger self. The nostalgic tone weaved throughout the poem’s creative structure and descriptions of his fond memory.
Imagery is the focus point for Roethke’s poem, and through descriptive words and various literary devices, it tells of a memory as a child. He creates vivid imagery using similes that depict a child dancing with his father, hanging “on like death, and hyperboles that describe the child and father dancing “until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf.” Although these phrases can be interpreted to have a perverse meaning, when in context, they portray the determination the little boy had as he and the father played roughly.
Through the use of rhyme, iambic trimeter and diction, Roethke is able to establish a connection between the poem’s syntax and subject. Line 13 details his father beating time on his head for their dance. Not only is it portrayed to the reader through his creation of imagery, but also through the poems meter and rhyme. The steady beat the poem creates when read aloud mimics
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the beat created by the fathers beating hand. Further, the rhyme scheme establishes and playful and child-like tone due to the common presence of rhyme in children’s poetry. Regardless of one’s stance on the meaning behind the poem, it can be agreed that many words Roethke uses have a negative connotation.
Words such as, “death,” “battered,” and “scraped” could mislead the audience to interpret a more sinister poem; however, these words take on a new meaning when they are connected back into the poem. “Death” refers to the child holding on to his father to keep up with him; “battered” and “scraped” describe the fathers hard working hands propping up the small child on his feet so the could dance. These “negative” words only contribute to the overall endearing memory, rather than take away from
it. Because many who perceive the poem in a negative manner focus solely on the diction used, context is forgotten about. The poem, written in 1961, was written in a time when hard work was common and valued, making it typical for people to come home and have “whiskey” on their “breath.” This shifts the line’s meaning from sinister to good-natured. It is possible that many who interpret the poem differently let their personal experience shape their interpretation. Moreover, sources show that as time has progressed, people have become more aware of violence and domestic abuse, likely their source of seeing the poem in this light. Regardless, taking into account the time period and common behavior at the time, the poems events point to cheerful and light-hearted dance. Though most likely unintentional, Roethke has created a piece of literature that has caused controversy. Through analyzation of the rhyme, devices, meter, diction, the intended meaning is revealed. Ultimately, there are plenty of context clues and literary devices that reveal Roethke’s true intentions were nostalgic and cheerful when writing “My Papa’s Waltz.”
Although Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden have very different experiences in childhood to write about, the overall message is appreciation of their fathers. Roethke's narrator appreciates that even though his father is not a polished dancer, he takes the time to roughhouse and dance with him as a boy. Even though it hurts a little, it is a fun moment between father and son. Hayden's narrator remembers what his father did for him every morning-lighting the fire and polishing his shoes-and has great regret that he didn't appreciate his father more for doing this things. However, Hayden gives us the chance, with this poem, to appreciate our fathers more.
Theodore Roethke's poem “My Papa's Waltz” is a unique American poem which is written in iambic trimeter. The poem captures the sometimes intense relationship between father and son. Roethke's own father, a German immigrant, died when he was still a teenager. His father was a major inspiration in his life and images from his childhood appear throughout his poetry. A biographer, Matt Forster comments that “His poems are often explorations of his own psyche, using imagery from his childhood to describe his interior life (Forster 2005).” He became one of the best known American poets by the end of his lifetime in 1963. In the famous poem “My Papa's Waltz” the author uses musicality and deep psychologically-rooted themes to create a poem that is unforgettable and alive with action. The poem is composed in iambic trimeter which parallels the 1, 2, 3 tempo of a waltz. This feature helps in creating the illusion of musicality and dancing as is suggested in the poem's title. Thematically the poem comments on the oedipal complex, the intimate relationship between father and son, loss, memory and music.
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.
Childhood experiences seem to be the ones that are recollected most vividly throughout a person's life. Almost everyone can remember some aspect of his or her childhood experiences, pleasant and unpleasant alike. Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz" suggests even further that this concept could be true. The dance described in this poem illustrates an interaction between father and child that contains more than the expected joyous, loving attitude between the two characters. Roethke's tone in this work exhibits the blended, yet powerful emotions that he, as a grown man, feels when looking back on this childhood experience. The author somewhat implicates feelings of resentment fused with a loving reliance with his father.
The author uses negative connotations such as “battered...knuckle”, “palm caked hard by dirt”, and “ear scraped” to illustrate his interpretation of the situation now as an adult. Roethke uses negative connotations to show that as a child he thought of this as “romping”;but, now as an adult he thinks of it differently. The author’s use of diction gives to sides to the interpretation of the poem; that’s why this poem is considered one of his best. Overall, diction helped tie up this poem by allowing the reader to have a connection with the
Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa's Waltz”, uses cryptic language to convince the reader that the child does not encounter abuse from his father, just a drunken dance.
The olfactory imagery in the first and second lines of the poem gives the reader an immediate sense of what the speaker smelled as he danced with his father. The father of the speaker has consumed so much whiskey that even the scent of his breath was enough to make the speaker dizzy as a young boy (1, 2). As the speaker waltzed with his intoxicated dad, he “hung on like death” simply to avoid being thrown off by his rambunctious father’s romping (3). Roethke uses a simile here to compare the boy clinging onto his father to death. By bringing in the morbidness associated with the word “death” so early on in the poem, Roethke creates a darkness that lingers behind the apparent happiness of the speaker’s memory. The visual imagery Roethke uses to describe the father’s hand that was “battered on one knuckle” and his palms that were “caked hard by dirt” gives the reader an idea that the father has come home from a long day of strenuous work (10, 14). After a hard day of physical labor, the father comes home to drink, but he also makes sure to spend time with his son before the day is over. This obvious effort that the father puts in to be with his son shows just how much he truly loves him. In the final two lines of the poem, Roethke wrote “Then waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt” (15, 16). The brilliant ending to this poem goes so much deeper than just a dad putting his child down to sleep for the night. The memory ends with the speaker clinging to his father’s shirt, like if he were to let go of his father, he may never see him again. Roethke’s concluding sentence of his poem makes the memory seem like a dream, and the child clings onto his father because he knows that it is nothing more than a dream. The child knows that when he wakes up from this dream he will be faced with the harsh reality
Theodore Roethke’s short poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is a small representation of the bond between a young boy and his father while waltzing in their kitchen. The father has had too much whiskey in his system and seems to be drunk. The father and son are knocking over pans and creating a huge mess, upsetting the mother. The boy is trying to enjoy the dance with his father, but his ear is getting scraped on by his father’s belt buckle. This straight forward poem ends with the father waltzing the son up into his bed for the night.
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 subject of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke made a passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike by using; imagery, symbolism, and diction to make his poem clear. The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” describes the abuse the author's experiences growing up as a child with his intoxicated father. The author share his experiences through this poem. The poem is a horrid experiences from the author's point of view. The author share his experiences and also the author In addition the author develops imagery to let the readers experiences the abuse from his intoxicated father as a child.
"My Papa's Waltz”, by Theodore Roethke, provokes the reader to experience different ranges of emotion and interpretation. It represents a young son’s recollection of dancing a waltz with his father in their kitchen. However, unlike the traditional version of the waltz this particular dance was not at all graceful nor joyful. The similes used describing the father son waltz produce bellicose images. The son recalling that he “hung on like death” demonstrations great difficulty attempting to waltz with his father during his drunken, seemingly aggressive behavior as well as the great deal of love he held for him(3). The imagery is clear in mentions of the smell of whiskey on the fathers breath and how they clumsily this waltz had been; “we romped until the pans/slid from the kitchen shelf” (5-6).
Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” depicts a boy who is reminiscing days gone by; he recalls one specific night when he was “waltzing” with his father. Like all literary works, poetry is open to interpretation. Every line of a poem affects each individual reader in a unique and personal way. Authors of poetry use this particular style of writing to express deep-seeded emotions. Readers can interpret a piece of literature emotion based on what is common in that time period of society. Readers can also relate to these emotions based on their own life experiences. With how common child abuse was in that time period and even today’s society, some view this poem as an innocent moment of bonding between father and son, but others see it
In the poem, My Papa’s Waltz, Theodore Roethke shares the male main character’s reminiscing memory about a specific time in his youth reflecting his emotions of love and fear towards the imperfections of his father. The young boy in the poem loves his father’s presence and eats up every second he has with him fueling his masculinity and macho-ness.
Helping the reader visualize what was occurring in one of his memories. When he smelled the “whiskey” on his father's breath it made him feel “dizzy” which makes known how intoxicated the father was to make his son feel dizzy by just smelling his father's “breath.” When they were waltzing some “pans” were sliding of the kitchen shelf shows how unbalanced and inebriated he was as they were “waltzing.” As well as, when the child “hung” onto his father like “death” could infer that he was afraid of losing his father and wanted to spend more time with him. Indeed, the poem has created many obscure points of views that could be interpreted either as a fond memory of him with his father or a abusive
Since poetry is an openly passionate form of expression and every individual is unique in his or her own personal way, one could potentially interpret one poem in more than one way. In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” I interpreted the author’s overall meaning and general expression of his diction as two or three different ideas. The more times I read the poem, the more I developed a different sense of this deeply strong and emotional piece. I eventually came to a cohesive meaning of the written piece after a few perplexed readings.