An abusive and alcoholic father? Or a hardworking and loving dad? Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is about a young boy, who is the author in the poem, reminiscing the fond memories he had with his dad. The author lived a depressing life growing up because he lost his dad from cancer at the young age of fifteen. In effect, he encourages his readers to spend time with their parents and be good to them because once they’re gone, their lives will change dramatically, especially if they have a strong bond between them. While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and the diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Theodore …show more content…
Roethke wrote “My Papa’s Waltz” to share with his readers the fond memories he had with his hardworking father before his death. Plus, why would the author want a poem about his father seen in a negative way published for everyone to see? It’s disrespectful. Although some people chose to believe the poem is about an abusive father, There are reasons to believe otherwise. While doing research on Theodore Roethke, I found out that his uncle and dad owned a greenhouse in which they worked long hours in.
In lines thirteen and fourteen, the author states, “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt.” This tells us that his dad was very hardworking and works as much as he can to support his family. Normally, working in a greenhouse would get you dirty because there are plants everywhere. Roethke uses syntax by adding rhyme schemes to the poem. This caused people to think different and ignore the bone-chilling words like “death” and “battered.” In conclusion, the dad’s palm was caked by dirt since he worked in a …show more content…
greenhouse. Furthermore, a standard dad and son relationship would involve fooling and romping around in a ordinary household. Moreover, Roethke and his dad were playing energetically in the kitchen, that they eventually made a mess. In lines five and six, the author asserts, “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf.” The author used imagery to give a vivid image of what the setting might have looked like when him and his dad were playing foolishly in the house. This helps me understand that the author and his dad have a healthy and playful relationship. Overall, the author was trying to share with his readers the good and happy memories he creates with his dad after he would come home from working in his greenhouse. In addition, the author used imagery to show his readers that he loved his dad and wants to spend every second he could with him.
In lines fifteen and sixteen, the author includes in his poem,”Then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt.” In these lines the author used diction. The word “clinging” gave me the idea that he couldn’t get enough of his dad and he had so much fun with him. This makes it clear to me that the author loves his dad’s vibe and sensation and wants to spend as much time as he can with him before he needs to go back to work. In brief, the authors dad was very hard working and barely had any time to spend with his son. Subsequently, he wants to spend as much time as possible with his hard working
dad. Ultimately, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that the author wrote ¨My Papa’s Waltz” to share with his readers the memories he creates with his hard working dad before he dies. Although the author might have a good and healthy relationship with his dad, he hardly has any time to make memories with him. So the author is also trying to apprise his readers to appreciate their parents while they’re still able to and to not take them for granted. The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” has brought an abundance of controversy because it can be interpreted in many ways. I choose to believe that the poem is about the author, when he was younger, looking back at the memories he made with his dad before he passed away. I chose to believe that this is what the poem is about because of all the reasons that were stated above. To conclude, this poem has many different ways to interpret, but the evidence I gave supports that the poem is a fond memory between a loving dad and his son.
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.
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.
...is father brought to small town Michigan. Matt Forster, a biographer, states that “Much of Roethke’s poetry would draw on the imagery of his childhood, such as the landscapes of Michigan, the dirt and roots he remembered from working in the nursery, and memories of his father (Forster 2005).” Roethke wrote about his childhood throughout his literary career, and his poems reflect small town life in Michigan and the important people with whom he was surrounded during his childhood and adolescence.
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.
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
Abuse is a difficult and sensitive subject that can have long lasting effects. These traumatic emotional effects are often intensified if the abuse happens at a young age because children do not understand why the abuse is happening or how to deal with it. There are many abuse programs set up to counter the severe effects which abuse can have. Even more, poets and writers all over the world contribute works that express the saddening events and force the public to realize it is much more real than the informative articles we read about. One such poem is Theodore Roethke’s My Papa’s Waltz which looks carefully through the eyes of a young boy into the household of an abusive father. Robert Hayden’s Those Winter Sundays is a similar poem from the perspective of a young adult reflecting back on the childhood relationship with his father and the abuse his father inflicted. These poems are important because they deal with the complex issues surrounding the subject of abuse and also show the different ways which children react to it. My Papa’s Waltz and Those Winter Sundays are similar poems because they use tone, imagery, and sounds and rhythms to create tension between the negative aspects of abuse and the boys own love and understanding for their father.
Donald Hall describes the use of imagery in poetry as a device that "makes us more sensitive to [literature], as if we acquired eyes that could see through things"(p 530). Imagery creates vivid details that deal with one's sense of sight, sound, touch, smell, or taste. These details can be seen in Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" because the senses of touch, sight, sound, and smell appeal to the reader in order to better explain the feelings of each character in the poem. Roethke's use of imagery creates a negative picture that is painted by the son of an abusive father.
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
Roethke’s poem has a regular rhyme scheme that can be expressed as “abab”. The only exception to this scheme would be the first stanza as the words “dizzy” (2) and “easy” (4) are slant rhymes. Only the end syllables of the two words sound the same. As a result, the use of a consistent “abab” rhyme scheme allows the poem to reflect the
The author somewhat implicates feelings of resentment fused with a loving reliance with his father. For example, the first two lines of the poem read: "The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy;" (Roethke 668). This excerpt appears to set a dark sort of mood for the entire rest of the poem. By the first two lines, the reader may already see how this man feels about his father's drunkenness. It seems as if Roethke has preceded his poem with this factor in order to demonstrate the resentment that he feels toward his father.
This poem has a kept form. Even at a glance, it has a set form. It consists of four quatrains, each line being an iambic tritameter. The poem is about a young boy waltzing with his father. One can assume that the speaker is a young boy, or perhaps the poet reminiscing his youth. The father dances around in a haphazard manner, knocking over pans in the kitchen. Upon first glance, the tone is humorous. The picture one immediately forms is rather comical with the boy clinging on for dear life as his chuckling father spins him round and round, making a mess in the kitchen while the mother looks on discontentedly. However, the line, "whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy" suggests the father's drunkedness and "at every step you missed my right ear scraped buckle" suggests the dance was not an altogether joyful one. Lines such as "hung on like death", and "beat time on my head" are might even lead the reader to think the father is abusive of the boy.
Dan Brown rightly said that no love is greater than that of a father and a son. It’s not just flesh and mind but the hearts that connect a father and a son. “My papa’s Waltz”, by Theodore Roethke and “Those Winter Sundays”, by Robert Hayden, both describe the relationship between a father and a son. These poems share a common idea of revealing the relationship that the speakers share with their fathers and the poems simultaneously, offer a means of discovering and interpreting the setting, tone and theme among other elemental aspects of poetry. The poems seem a lot different, however they are alike in many significant ways. Both the poems swing around the different childhood memories of the speakers, yet show how love crosses all the borders of bitterness.
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.
Have you ever felt regret about being selfish towards your parents or thankful for everything your parents have done for you? In the poems “My Papa’s Waltz”, by Theodor Roethke and “Those Winter Sundays”, by Hayden White both narrators have felt the same feelings towards their parents. Writing about childhood memories can be a great method of symbolizing emotional experiences of one’s childhood. Both poems are very similar themes. Each of the poems tell a story of a child who reminisce on their lives by telling about certain events that occurred during their childhood. Both poems are sentimental and emotional narratives of the boy’s relationship with their fathers. In “My Papa’s Waltz” the narrator uses specific imagery and words that are easy to understand, helping make the poem provide emotion. The poem “Those Winter Sundays” is much shorter but has a corresponding issue. The poem’s interpretation of meaning depends on reader’s point of view. Although both poems are very brief, they grasp an emotional outlook and values of relationships efficiently.
There are numerous autobiographical element in the poem. The poem “Daddy” expresses bitterness, frustration, and blending of nursery-rhyme-like sound and violent imagery. The word “Daddy” is typic...