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My papa's waltz personal analysis
My papa's waltz personal analysis
Connotation in my papa's waltz
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The theme of My Papa's Waltz is about a little boy spending quality with his father learning how to do the classic dance the waltz. While his father is teaching him, there's a lot of things that the child is either concerned about, or doesn't like. But he is willingly to suck it up to enjoy this special time his dad before bed. The reason I know that this is the theme of the poem is simply because this is what the poem is about. The poetic devices that are seen in this poem is rhythm, hyperbole, and metonymy. These poetic devices bring character to the poem, and forces you use your imagination. My example of a hyperbole is the line in the poem when he states " you beat time in my head with a palm caked hard by dirt". Metonymy for example would
The most notable qualities of Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” are the tone and language of the poem which convey the nostalgia adult author feels thinking about the time spent with his father. In the title narrator’s father is affectionately referred to as “Papa” making the impression that the main character and his father are close. The use of possessive pronoun “my” contributes to the overall impression that the father holds special place in the narrator’s heart. As word “waltz” in the title implies the poem gives account of the festive occasion in which the narrator’s father takes part.
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 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.
Inevitability at one point in most of our lives we have to deal with some type of hardship. A lot of us have experienced first hand or known someone who has had the unfortunate experience of dealing with a close friend or family member who becomes abusive and aggressive because of drug or alcohol related problems. My Papa’s waltz is a poem that tells the story of a young boy dealing with an abusive father and a broken home. Despite the initial light atmosphere of the poem Theodore Roethke uses strong and powerful language to convey an underlined meaning to their dance. My Papa's Waltz is a poem of fear, all the more horrible because the boy is terrified and hurt by his father, even in play, yet he clings and hangs to him showing how strong he is despite his age and through his actions he illustrates his love and patience for his troubled father.
In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, the speaker is reflecting on a childhood experience involving his father. Some people assume that this poem is about a happy relationship between a father and son while other people assume that this poem emphasizes hidden messages of parental abuse. In my
If the narrator simply intended to reflect a warm commemoration, he could have used a strand of words that implied happiness or comfort. The author was clearly aware that at first glance, readers typically assume the poem is about an abusive relationship; nevertheless, he neglected to alter his poem, demonstrating the idea that negative memories of the father do exist. The father in “My Papa’s Waltz” is portrayed by the narrator as one who neglects his responsibilities of ensuring safety and being a positive role model. Using many examples and implying this through writing techniques, the narrator represents the father in a way other than a loving dad.
My Papa’s Waltz presents a child’s telling of the waltz taking place between him and his father. As a verb, a waltz is “to move or walk in a lively and confident manner” (“Waltz”). The waltz described throughout the poem is quick and lively as the boy “hung on like death” (Roethke)
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
"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.
In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”, the overall theme of it is family. The reason the theme of the poem is family is because, it demonstrates an
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.
Many poets use different literary devices in poems to express their ideas and thoughts in an artistic way.
A poem’s diction plays a fundamental role in analyzing a poem, considering the text is all one needs in order to discover the meaning. My Papa’s Waltz is a fairly short poem, but the words have major impact. The word “whiskey” (Line 1) implies that the father is a drunk, and this makes the boy “dizzy,” (Line 2) or in other words, it sickens him. The poem claims the boy is small, making him sound fragile, playing into the next few lines of the poem. “Death” (Line 3) is a negative connotation, along with “battered” (Line 10), “beat” (Line 13), and “caked hard” (Line 14). “Romped” (Line 5) has a positive denotation suggesting harmless roughhousing. The word “countenance” (Line 7) does not flow within the stanza, sounding sharp and negative, paralleling the mother’s stern disapproval. “Hung” (Line 3) is past tense, therefore the poem is a reflection of an earlier time. “Waltzed” (Line 15) takes on a different meaning beyond the dance, making it a synonym for taking someone somewhere. Understanding the words of a poem was the first step in order to analyze My Papa’s Waltz using this methodology.
The theme of any story can be very dynamic. A story can have multiple themes and they can vary by how the reader portrays theme. The theme ultimately is determined by opinions, and how someone reads and oversees particular phrases that give off the topic, or certain a message. My Papa’s Waltz and Forgiving my Father connect to each other as they both relate to the relationship of fathers to their families. These are prime examples of how theme is ultimately determined by opinions and messages; because not everyone has a father or the same feelings towards their father as someone else does their own.
Throughout history, poets had experimented with different forms of figurative language. Figurative language allows a poet to express his or her meaning within a poem. The beauty of using the various forms of figurative language is the ability to convey deep meaning in a condensed fashion. There are many different figures of speech that a poet can use such as: simile, paradox, metaphor, alliteration, and anaphora. These examples only represent a fraction of the different forms, but are amongst the most well-known. The use of anaphora in a poem, by a poet, is one of the best ways to apply weight or emphasis on a particular segment. Not only does an anaphora place emphasis, but it can also aid in setting the tone, or over all “feel” a reader receives from a poem. Poets such as Walt Whitman, Conrad Aiken, and Frances Osgood provide poems that show how the use of anaphora can effect unity, feeling, and structure of a poem.