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My papa's waltz imagery
My papa's waltz” analysis
My papa's waltz” analysis
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The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke uses imagery and a tone to paint a picture of something but, means something different. This idea is to illustrate that things are not always what they seem. In doing so as humans people like to see or think the worst. This poem exploits this flaw and means something completely different. It uses imagery to make the poem appear to be a father abusing his daughter. This poem depicts the father as a man who drinks way too much and takes his anger out on his daughter shown here, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy,” (Line 1 and 2) In fact that is not the case at all the tone is very serious even though the deeper meaning of the poem is happy. The author utilizes these two literary elements elements very well to challenge the reader to dig deeper. To focus deeper on imagery it paints a very dark thought at first about how a father physically abuses his kid in front of the mom. This shows how good the author is at writing and how he ties in the theme to the poem. A line that is so misinterpreted is, “At every step you missed, my right ear scraped a …show more content…
The tone works with both the theme and the imagery used in the poem. The tone tricks the reader and forces them to dig deeper to find the the actual meaning of the poem. An example of seriousness is seen here, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle,” (Line 9 and 10) Now this is not funny or happy or even sad it is just serious and sets the tone for the poem. The theme of the poem is one that can only be found after the real meaning is discovered. The reason this poem faces is so famous is its ability to have 2 faces, now the second face is the real one and the first face us there to confuse the reader and lead them in the wrong direction but if they remove that mask they will see the poem in a whole new
The tone of the poem is sad and peaceful. There are multiple examples of these emotions throughout the poem, evidence of the poem being sad is “buried him half in ashes, where he lay”. These words clearly show us that there is a strong sense of sadness within these words. Proof of this poem being peaceful is “in the sunny afternoon, and takes his ease”, which clearly states that the swagman was relaxed and was not in a stressed environment.
The first two lines of the poem set the mood of fear and gloom which is constant throughout the remainder of the poem. The word choice of "black" to describe the speaker's face can convey several messages (502). The most obvious meaning ...
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 “My Papa Waltz”, Theodore Roethke displays a happy little boy and his father dancing together after a long day of work. The little boy is enjoying the time spent with his father. His mother is watching with a disapproval look because the little boy is supposed to be in bed. But the father ignores the mother’s facial expression and continues enjoying his son.
“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a representation of the journey toward reconciliation of the love and the fear that the speaker, a young boy, has for his father, and is an extended metaphor for the way that we balance the good and bad in our lives. Whilst reading this poem it is impossible to determine definitively whether it is truly about a dance or if the speaker is actually being abused. However, I don’t believe that it really matters either way. Actually, I believe it is this ambiguity and push and pull between the two extremes that creates the overall sense of struggle that comes with the reconciliation of the facets of the father and son’s relationship. This dance between love and fear is accentuated by Roethke’s use of ambiguous diction, end rhyme, and iambic trimeter.
The two central themes of the poem are the importance of love within family, and the atrocities of child abuse. Roethke uses imagery, diction, and easy flowing structure to help develop the varying themes. The “My Papa’s Waltz” contains imagery that can be interpreted in several ways. When the boy sees his father’s hand that “was battered on one knuckle” (10), one assumes his battered knuckles are because of hard work or inflicting abuse on his child. The line “With a palm caked hard by dirt” (14) depicts the father as a hard-working laborer.
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
Poetry is a special gift, which unfortunately is not given to all of us. Mr. Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) was an American poet with this magnificent gift. Mr. Roethke is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation (Wiki). His poems present figurative language, which means that it says something, but is not actually what it means, or it can be interpreted in a totally different way. Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” has imaginary and mixed feelings between the speaker, which is a child, and his father. After having researched a lot more about the Poet’s life I find this poem highly eloquent and fallacious. Even though, it’s a brief poem I can say that this talks about Mr. Roethke’s childhood. This
My Papa’s Waltz, by Theodore Roethke, is a poem that has been interpreted in two very different ways. The first interpretation is that the poem is a child’s loving memory of his father who had too much to drink and the second interpretation is a child’s memory of his abusive father. After I read the poem, instead of looking at the two interpretations as completely unalike, I came to believe that both of the interpretations co-existed with each other and were valid. In order to understand why I believed so, it is important to break the poem apart and analyze the speaker, style, tone, and theme of the poem. The speaker of the poem seems to be a son recollecting his memories as a child and the relationship he had with his father. The memory is
Poetry is made to express the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the poet. The reader can interpret the poem however they see fit. Critics are undecided about the theme of Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz." Some people believe that the poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. The more convincing interpretation is that it has a hidden message of parental abuse. Careful analysis of the keywords and each individual stanza back up this theory of child abuse by a violent and drunken father.
...nderstanding. I know when I first read the poem I thought that the poem was negative and about a father beating a boy, but once I read it again I got a fuller understanding of what it meant. The author wants the readers to pounder whether or not the poem is negative or positive. However, I get the sense of a positive poem through the author’s use of imagery, word choice, and meter. The author puts the image of a boy and his father dancing around like the waltz. Roethke chose his words very well when he was writing this poem. McKenna said that he changed the words in his poem several times, especially the title (34). Then, the author uses the poem through meter as a sense of the dance through unstressed and stressed syllables. From the evidence, I strongly believe that “My Papa’s Waltz” is about a young boy looking for affection from his father, even if he is drunk.
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.
“My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem gracefully written by the critically acclaimed, Theodore Roethke, in which he projects his internalized emotional confusion through the innocent soul of a young boy, whose thoughts most likely reflect that of Roethke’s former childhood self. The account expressed in the poem is one of controversy, occurring between the young boy and his father; the encounter is either abusive or playful; however, much of the poem supports the position that the encounter is playful. In “My Papa’s Waltz,” the child is not the victim of abuse, but rather of playfulness, which resulted in unintended emotional scarring from the combination of the enamor he had for his father as a consummate whole, and the dislike he had for the part of
The choice of words of the author also contributes to the development of the theme. For example, the use of words like "drafty," "half-heartedly," and "half-imagined" give the reader the idea of how faintly the dilemma was perceived and understood by the children, thus adding to the idea that the children cannot understand the burden the speaker has upon herself. In addition, referring to a Rembrandt as just a "picture" and to the woman as "old age," we can see that these two symbols, which are very important to the speaker and to the poem, are considered trivial by the children, thus contributing to the concept that the children cannot feel what the speaker is feeling.
The tone of the poem starts off comical and almost light-hearted- a father dancing in a recklessly with his son, knocking over pots and pans. But the son clings onto his father like "death" while the mother is clearly discontented with the situation. "Whisky on your breath could make a small boy dizzy" connotes excess, a situation beyond acceptable limits - too much for the boy and too much for his mother. The verse jerks back and forth in tone and imagery; from movements of dance, to battered movements. 'Waltzing' and 'beating time' are juxtaposed to a tight hold on the wrist, battered knuckle and scraped ear. Lightness and humor change to satire and a critical edge. Like Frost, Roethke uses the rhythm of his verse to carry the reader along, like a waltz, but one that becomes increasingly dizzying as the reader realizes the confusion, even terror, the child feels. The child's reference to his father as 'you' helps the reader feel the emotions more immediately and drives home the physical closeness of father and child. It also enforces a tone that is almost accusatory.