New Criticism Analysis of My Papa’s Waltz

728 Words2 Pages

New Criticism attracts many readers to its methodologies by enticing them with clearly laid out steps to follow in order to criticize any work of literature. It dismisses the use of all outside sources, asserting that the only way to truly analyze a poem efficiently is to focus purely on the words in the poem. For this interpretation I followed all the steps necessary in order to properly analyze the poem. I came to a consensus on both the tension, and the resolving of it. 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. Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Poem My Papa´s Waltz by Theodore Roethke

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his recollection, Roethke's father comes home drunk after a hard day of work. The young boy and his father decide to partake in a little dance. While waltzing, the two get a little rambunctious with each other. As a result, some people view this poem with a disdainful-like perception and suppose Theodore wrote the poem with dark thoughts in mind. Rather, despite his father's drunkenness, the young Theodore enjoyed every second of it. There is a strong bond between them that upon careful examination, one can clearly understand in the poem "My Papa's Waltz."

    Read More

  • Imagery in My Papa’s Waltz

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • My Papa's Waltz And The Ballad Of Birmingham Family Bonds

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    This means that the poem contains unstressed followed by stressed syllables. In addition, each line contains three-stressed syllable, which makes it trimeter. For instance, “The whiskey on your breath” (1) can be used to identify the stressed syllables in that line. The syllable for “whisk”, “on” and “breath” are the three stressed syllable within that line of the poem. The use of an iambic trimeter allows the poem to become the waltz itself as it matches the three beats of the waltz. While this meter is used throughout the poem, there are certain lines that contain disruptions to the meter of this poem. For example, “slide from the kitchen shelf”(6) which is a trochaic. A trochee is a meter pattern that involves a stressed syllable flowed by an unstressed syllable. In this case, “slide” is a stressed syllable, while “from” is unstressed. These disruptions in meter mirror the father’s “missing steps” in line 11. This dance between the father and son is not smooth, but rather rough and clumsy due to the father’s drunkenness. Similarly, the first stanza also includes a simile, “But I hung on like death” (3), which portrays a sense of seriousness in tone of the speaker. In other words, there is a sense of play but also a sense of danger that characterizes the

    Read More

  • My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Theodore Roethke manipulates our emotions in this poem using literary convention. A Waltz is a lighthearted, easily accessible dance. In a waltz, a couple sways back and forth as they go in a circle. Our emotions of this poem seem to follow this same path as we can see comforting and frightening images at the same time in this poem making us go in circles on whether this poem is about a boy dancing with his father, or a boy fighting his father. An example of this “waltz” we have in this poem is in the first stanza as we get the frightening image of “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Line 1-2). Then he follows with “we romped,” thus undercutting the serious tone that we are given from the first stanza; however, the romping is giving seriousness immediately when the pans slide from the kitchen shelves and “The mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself.” Another part that can be taken in either a positive or a negative reading is when the poem reads, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle.” This can mean that his father was a hardworking man whose hands are altered from working long hours as a grafter, or this could mean that his hand was battered because it is the same hand being used to beat him. This gives us yet another spin on our emo...

    Read More

  • Comparing My Papa’s Waltz and Listening to grownups quarrel

    1900 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Delys Waite: Poem Analysis

    474 Words  | 1 Pages

    The paper discusses the sound of the poem and how those certain words, said aloud, help to emphasize the meaning. Looking at the form of a poem in this way gave me a new way of looking at the text and finding the meaning. Personally, I have not had much familiarity looking at the sound of a text, but now see how the sound can be valuable when looking for the meaning of a text. I like to look at the imagery that is utilized in a text because I believe it works well in giving the reader a look into the text and bringing the text to life. What I have discovered reading about the formalist approach is to look at the overall form and how the text itself affects the meaning. Looking at the imagery and symbols helps me personally find the meaning in a text, so learning that the form of the text also can contribute to the meaning was

    Read More

  • Analysis of My Papa's Waltz

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Defining Moment in My Papa’s Waltz

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    An older boy remembered his father, a hardworking blue collar man. He remembered how his father would walk into the home each evening with scraped hands and perspiration stained shirts. His father was a tough man. He was the kind of man that refused to go to the doctor and rarely hugged his children. Yet, he was a good man. The boy remembered how his father provided for the family and often times his smallest actions proved his paternal love for them. One particular memory stood out among the rest. His father had returned home from work late one evening. He had been out celebrating his pay raise with some of his co-workers down at the local pub. He waltzed through the door bursting with excitement and proudly picked his son up swinging him around. The boy and father playfully tackled and wrestled in the living room. Similarly, poetry reveals unforgettable moments such as the one between the father and son. Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" captures a positive bonding experience between a father and son through vivid imagery and use of ...

    Read More

  • Jonson's On My First Son

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    The phrasing of this poem can be analyzed on many levels.  Holistically, the poem moves the father through three types of emotions.  More specifically, the first lines of the poem depict the father s deep sadness toward the death of his son.  The line  Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy  creates a mental picture in my mind (Line 1). I see the father standing over the coffin in his blackest of outfits with sunglasses shading his eyes from the sun because even the sun is too bright for his day of mourning.  The most beautiful scarlet rose from his garden is gripped tightly in his right hand as tears cascade down his face and strike the earth with a splash that echoes like a scream in a cave, piercing the ears of those gathered there to mourn the death of his son.

    Read More

  • What Is The Tone Of My Papa's Waltz

    411 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz, by Theodore Roethke, Roethke uses lots of descriptive imagery and an emotional changing tone to illustrate the idea that many kids who are/ have been abused try to hide it from others. The narrator is an example of the theme because he was being abused by his father but he described it (imagery) like his father and him were just waltzing around the house.

    Read More

  • Essay On Historical Criticism

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    Literature is an intricate art form. In order to attempt to understand the meanings and ideas within literary work, there are many forms of criticism that propose different approaches to its interpretation. Each criticism is crucial to the understanding of how individuals interpret literary works. Since each criticism has a different approach to enrich the understanding literary works, the question is raised whether one criticism should be used over others, whether a certain combination of criticisms should be used, or whether all criticisms should be taken into account. This may all be dependent on the reader’s individual preference or opinion, but each criticism presented builds on the others to create a well-rounded and unique understanding

    Read More

  • Intrinsic and Extrinsic

    1459 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are intrinsic and extrinsic criticisms of novels, letters, and poems. Each method offers a different perspective on how the readers interpret each piece. Intrinsic criticism is the process of how readers summarize the main points of the piece. Extrinsic criticism is the background information such as: the time period, the author’s biography, and historical references. Any additional data gathered assists with the analysis of the literary text. Emily Dickinson’s poem The Wife will be analyzed by using these two methods of criticism. An intrinsic reading of the poem will be given, insight on whether extrinsic criticism contributes to the reading of the poem or alters its meaning will be disclosed, and lastly a reflection on the relative merits of both criticisms will be provided.

    Read More

More about New Criticism Analysis of My Papa’s Waltz

Open Document