Is the poem My Papa’s Waltz about a loving father and son dance or a dark story about child abuse? The poem My Papa’s Waltz was written by Theodore Roethke. The poem deals with a father and son dancing around their house one night. As one looks deeper into the poem you can sense a darker side to the poem.
The waltz is a dance performed by two people who in tune with each other and should bring the two people closer together. However, the dance in this poem does not portray a loving and intimate dance but instead portrays the dark side of the waltz and sets the undertone mood of the poem that there is something darker and deeper going on than what you see on the surface. Theodore Roethke shapes the way the reader responses to reading the
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poem through a number of literary conventions, one which is the way understand the etiquette of the waltz dance. The waltz is a dance set to a lighthearted music and isn’t very difficult.
The couple dancing sways back and forth and they go around in circles across the floor. This poem takes our emotions and sympathies on a roller coaster ride because the speaker scrupulously uses frightening images in conjunction with very soothing comforting images. For example, the speaker begins with a frightening image in the first stanza: “The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy” (1–2). Then the speaker begins the second stanza with the words “We romped,” which undercuts the seriousness of the tone in the first stanza and then the speaker reminds us again that their romping has consequences, which immediately takes us back to the seriousness of the waltz: Pans slid from the shelf, and the speaker’s mother frowning in disapproval …show more content…
(5 – 8). Throughout the entire poem this pattern is repeated. As a result, the waltz ultimately spins out of control and we are no longer focusing on the overall loving feeling of the dance but we are focusing on the disturbing emotions that the speaker has created. This pattern is repeated throughout the entire poem. Another example is Roethke use of meter and rhyme to draw attention to the fact that there is something absent from this waltz. Keeping with the theme of the waltz rhythm of ¾ time, Roethke makes sure that his lines in the poem are either six or seven syllables. What is interesting is the way he intertwines the six and seven patterns leaving you an unsteady feeling about the dance. He isn’t consistent with the pattern and it isn’t exact nor is the rhyme order exact: Slant rhymes like “dizzy”/”easy” (lines 2 and 4) and “pans”/”countenance” (5 and 7) show that something is missing. The speaker also wants you to realize that his father wouldn’t make a good dance instructor, especially when he has “whiskey on your breath” (1), because he points out “every step you missed” (11). Finally, one wonders if the father in the poem would make a good worker, a good husband, or a good father.
The poem leads us easily to draw this distinct conclusion. The poem doesn’t scream that boy hates his dad or even that his dad was hurtful or mean to the kid while he was young. Instead it is a poem that expresses physical control to the point of manipulation and maybe some abuse on the dad’s part. The waltz is portrayed as dangerous shown through the appearance of a disapproving mother (lines 7 and 8), a battered knuckle (line 10), a buckle that repeatedly scrapes a boy’s ear (12), and finally a dirt-caked hand that strikes the boy’s head repeatedly under the pretense of keeping time with the waltz. The fact that the speaker says, “You beat time on my head” (14), instead of “keeping time” strengthens this
perception. So one has to ask himself, is the waltzing ritual really about the dance and love for his child or is it something more cynical. The poem can be analyzed in either way but the undertones reveal is that the dance is about a man who maintains physical control over his son even when he isn’t so in control over himself.
The poem takes the reader back in time for a moment to a small kitchen and a young boy at bedtime. The dishes have been cleared and placed on the counter or in the sink. The family is seated around the table. The father having a glass of whiskey to relax after a very hard day working in the family owned twenty-five-acre greenhouse complex. He is asked to take his small son to bed. The poem begins, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Roethke line 1) enlists the imagery of what the young boy was smelling as he most likely climbed aboard his fathers’ large work boots for the evening waltz to bed. It is obvious this is an evening ritual, one that is cherished. The boy is aware of his fathers’ waltzing abilities and he concedes that he is up for the challenge. The irony of the statement, “I hung on like death” (Roethke line 3) is a private one, yet deeply describes his yearning for one more waltz with his father who passed away when Theodore was only fifteen years ...
Feelings can twist reality in the most peculiar ways. Emotions push the mind to the most stunning conclusions, and stir within the soul the strangest storms. In fact, senses reach their peak in David Wagoner’s poetic work “The Best Slow Dancer”. In the poem, Wagoner brings out the height of sentiment through the eyes of a teenage boy at a school dance, who overcomes the teenage social hierarchy and his own fear to share in the longed-for dance with one special girl. All the while Wagoner takes his readers into depths of wafting dreaminess, romance, and intimacy they are projected through an unbroken flow of words uninterrupted by punctuation, rhythm, or strict lines.
I have elected to analyze seven poems spoken by a child to its parent. Despite a wide variety of sentiments, all share one theme: the deep and complicated love between child and parent.
Family bonds are very important which can determine the ability for a family to get along. They can be between a mother and son, a father and son, or even a whole entire family itself. To some people anything can happen between them and their family relationship and they will get over it, but to others they may hold resentment. Throughout the poems Those Winter Sundays, My Papa’s Waltz, and The Ballad of Birmingham family bonds are tested greatly. In Those Winter Sundays the relationship being shown is between the father and son, with the way the son treats his father. My Papa’s Waltz shows the relationship between a father and son as well, but the son is being beaten by his father. In The Ballad of Birmingham the relationship shown is between
Notably, the denotation “romping” can mean, “to play roughly and energetically” (Google), but it can also have a connotation that the boy is hurt or in pain. Furthermore, stanza two also mentions the “mother’s countenance/ could not unfrown itself” (7- 8) which is unusual in the description of playing. While the father and son are playing, the mother is standing aside frowning. Her unhappiness contrasts the playful description of the waltz, which gives the poem its sense of seriousness. In other words, it tells the reader that there is much more happening here than the father and son playing. The drunkenness of the father has caused him to become careless and rough with the boy. The mother is clearly unhappy about the situation, but only watches as the two continue their
The tone of a poem can only by recognized when reading carefully and paying close attention to the words and what they might suggest. The rhyme scheme of My Papa’s Waltz is extremely relevant to the poem. For example, in the first stanza dizzy and easy create the rollicking rhythm, as does the following stanza’s with the same pattern. The structure of words create an almost "waltz" like melody. The phrase " we romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf" and " waltzed me off to bed" (Roethke 5-6, 15), convey a pleasant atmosphere to the reader. The title itself creates an affectionate attitude with the connection of Papa and waltz. The choice of words and details are used systematically to produce thoughts to the reader of happiness and affection, thus, establishing the tone of this poem.
At one point in the story the boy gets sick and the man fears the son will die until he discovers he is having bad dreams still. According to the man, if you dream positive things that means you are giving up and that death is coming soon whereas if you dream bad things, you are still strong and holding onto life. The boy recovers and the man gets worse. There are multiple times where the reader stops and realizes that there is a love here that is unexplainable and puts themselves in the characters shoes. For example, when the son receives a haircut from his father, when they play in the waterfall together, and when they press on through this journey together when death seems very near; all those times make you think; they make a personal connection to a father-son bond but even more so, a child-parent bond. It made me think of times that my mother and I went through hard times, clearly never as severe as these characters but we pressed on and got through and still enjoyed our time and love together. It sends a powerful
The diction of this poem influences the imagery with the tone of the words . They are used to convey the message of how it feels to not feel the spark of love
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
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.
Throughout the poem the speaker recalls memories of his father’s dancing, and the actions the father committed make him look like a violent and even an alcoholic
The confusion of the son is shown in diction when the potent “whiskey” on the breath of his father makes him “dizzy”. Although the boy is dancing with his father, the poem becomes more solemn with the diction of clinging on “like death” and describing the dancing as “not easy”. The reasoning of the boy is slipping into uncertainty and disarray just as the “pans slid from the kitchen shelf”. The mother is watching with a “countenance” that “could not unfrown itself” because she desires to help but could potentially be afraid that the father will turn his drunken wrath on her; therefore she watches, despondent and
He wants the reader to really examine and delve deeper into the poem, and question if this is really a dance routine or an abusive relationship. This awful relationship has had a lasting impact on Roethke, and therefore remembers incredible details. For example, he recounts the memory of what his father’s breath smelled like, saying, “The whiskey on your breath, could make a small boy dizzy.” That signifies how this memory has burned into Roethke’s brain. He truly was the small boy in the scene and he was so used to having these fights, that he even knew the type of alcohol his dad drinks. That was so baffling to me that a young boy could recognize what kind of alcohol his father was drinking, and remember it as a man. What really said a lot about their relationship was when Roethke said, “But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy.” They both were physically and emotionally unstable, and the boy hung on for dear life. Also, the father at one point, is aggressively holding onto the son’s wrist, which is not normally how dance partners hold each
Theodore Roethke's “My Papa’s Waltz,” has an unhidden rhythm that resembles the type of dance that is represented in the title of the poem. The repetitive beat of the rhythm shows off the actions of the father, mother, and son as a choreographed dance, the waltz. McKenna, suggests that Roethke’s word diction played a specific role in the tone of the poem. McKenna states “The choice of 'Waltz" is his attempt to elevate this experience for the boy above the mere rough-house lurching of an inebriated working-class father.” The poem is known for having opposing views, making the voice of the poem ambiguous. The technique in which the poem is written however, welcomes the ambiguity of the subject matter. The child’s father can be seen as aggressive or a childhood idol.
But when the images are examined more closely he finds "something narcissistic in the performance of fine dancers and ice skaters" (line 20) Sutton. "Sex without love." Shows a "contrast between surface approval and deeper criticism of the ones who make love/without love" (Line 2). Many images within the poem appear to suggest that the speaker appreciates when partners pursue in sex without love, but when the images are closely analyzed within the poem, a more weary tone is shown from the speaker. Olds beautiful way of using imagery makes this poem come to reality. Olds uses similes every time throughout the poem to make the spectators to imagine the pictures in their minds. For example, Olds describes being intimacy as being as “beautiful as dancers.” (Line 2) In this line, she questions how one can do such a beautiful act with a person when you are not even in love with