My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

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In My Papa’s Waltz, Roethke uses an extended metopher, but uses different language to describe it as the poem is read. My Papas waltz uses the metaphor of dancing throughout the poem. Everything from the description of the fluidity of the dance to the speakers feeling towards the dance helps create a stronger meaning behind the metaphor. Roethke uses dancing as a metopher for the relationship between the son and the father, according to the son.
In lines 3 and 4, the speaker describes the dancing as difficult, but he pushed through the difficulty. Lines 1 and 2 express one reason why the waltzing may be difficult; the father’s breathe is venomous with the stench of whiskey. Relating this to the relationship between the father and son, lines …show more content…

For example, after the pots fall from the shelf because of their dance, Roethke writes “My mother’s countenance/Could not unfrown itself.” Roethke uses stanza two to show that the relationship between the father and son has hit bumps and caused destruction.
Roethke uses stanza 3 to give a description of the fathers actions in their “dance.” Line 10 describes the father’s battered knuckle, which evokes the idea that the father has been fighting, whether it be alcoholism or even the relationship with his son. The father will always be a father but may not have always been a “Papa” to the son. “At every step you missed/My right ear scraped a buckle,” elicits the thought that their “dance” has been toxic for the son, especially when the father messes up.
The last stanza is about the father show the kid the beat to dance to, drawing attention to his dirt caked palms. This stanza gives the reader a sense of hope, showing that the father has been educational to the son, not just destructive. In the end the father brings the son to bed, while the son still clings to his shirt. The last line shows that the son has always tried to keep the father close throughout their relationship, even though both instances he can only hold on by his

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