"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is a childhood experience from the author. Roethke is reflecting on a good time he had with his father while he was young. When you advance in age, you often look back at your past and reminisce on times you wish you could go back to. When you read this poem the theme carpe diem jumps out. Carpe diem is a Latin aphorism meaning seize the day. The approach the Roethke took in writing this poem gives you an image of day that he has seized and will never forget. Roethke doesn't directly say this is a fun loving experience but all signs pointed to it. The poem was written in past tense which shows the reader this has occurred a while back. So this poem is about a young Roethke and his drunk father dancing with
In “My Papa’s Waltz,” poet Theodore Roethke uses sensory details and ambiguous language to persuade both the boy and the reader that the boy still loves his father, despite him being an alcoholic. On the third sentence of the first stanza, Roethke uses ambiguous language by stating: “But I hung on like death. Such waltzing was not easy.” Although this plainly means that the boy was holding onto his father without ease, it can be interpreted in another way; the boy still loves his father, even though it is hard to love him with his alcoholism at times, and the boy still loves his father very much. The boy is reflecting on this idea while waltzing with his
The next two lines say, “hung on like death” and “ waltzing was not easy” this shows that the child stands by their father and it wasn’t that easy. Continuing with the second stanza the child describes more about going through this crazy life. “ We romped until the pans/ Slid from the shelf;/ My mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself”. The first two lines of the stanza say that the child and their father keep trying in life through the good and bad times.
Abbas Mohamed-Saeed Ms. Volkening ENG4U0 10 March 2023 Poetry Comparative Essay Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" and Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" are two poems that explore the theme of family relationships and the complex emotions that arise within them. Both poets use various literary devices to express their ideas and feelings about their respective fathers and the impact that they have had on their lives.
In the Poem “My Papa’s Waltz;” written by Theodore Roethke, the poem presents a somber tone through its usage of negative words and persuasive poetic craft. Throughout the poem “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke uses forceful words such as death, romped, unfrown, battered, and beat to provide the reader with tenderness for the character. This choice of words is used by the author likely to create the image of someone being abused and harmed. Consequently, many will argue that the story is about a son dancing with his drunken father. Some examples of this include when Roethke writes “The Whiskey on your breath.
The simile “But I hung on like death” (3) in Theodore Roethke’s poem allows the writer to clearly set the darker tone of “My Papa’s Waltz”. In this poem, the poet describes his father’s odd behavior. He also defines that alcohol was a factor and, consequently, his mother’s disapproved of the father’s actions.
In the poem, the father is normally busy doing labor even on Sundays, which is normally a day of rest and sleeping in later. In Roethke’s poem, My Papa’s Waltz he believes it is great to take time
Roethke uses a confused tone to show the reader how the little boy is confusing his father’s dark actions with a misleading waltz. After the beating/abuse the father gave, his son it is now time for bed. The dad takes him to his bedroom, but since the dad is still
A Darker Side of Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” At first read, a happy and joyful experience between a father and son may be what one takes away from “My Papa’s Waltz,” but a darker meaning of Theodore Roethke’s poem may rise to the surface after deeper study. Buried in-between the lines of Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz,” many different interpretations can be taken from this interaction between the father and son, and the “waltz” these two share. The negative interpretation, arguably, would be that of more than just a “waltz,” but a trace of something else going on, such as torment and abuse, in the midst of the child’s thought of play. Taking a look inside this father/son relationship, it can be inferred that Roethke writes this poem to use the
As we grow older, small moments we shared with our parents seem to take on a new light. Memories we once viewed with fondness or with uncertainty can evolve and change our perceptions and lend a new tone to these memories. This is shown in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” which tells of an encounter between father and son. The poem opens with the father arriving home after a night of drinking whiskey.
In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” the young boy reveals the good times he has lived with his father. This poem has two different interpretations, a literal interpretation and a counterfeit interpretation. I’ll be interpreting it literally. The poem is about a young boy and his father waltzing around their home.
The text I am going to be analyzing is ‘My Papa’s Waltz’, a poem written by Theodore Roethke. The poem was written in 1942. The poem discusses a domestic situation of a little boy describing the behaviour and characteristics of his parents, especially his father. Roethke had a difficult relationship with his father, who died when he was fifteen, and the poem reflects that. The themes of the poem are family and admiration.
Also, Roethke writes “my mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself.” When deconstructing this phrase, the mother is seen as unhappy because the author and his father play “until the pans [slide] from the kitchen shelf” meaning she is upset because she might have just finished cleaning and was annoyed of the mess caused by them. In short, Roethke creates a playful and joyous memory from his
“My Papa’s Waltz” is written from the perspective of someone looking back on a vivid memory from their childhood. The poem demonstrates a problematic father son relationship. The playful tones of “romped until the pans slid” and “waltzed me off to bed” show that the child had love for his father. However, the concerning tones of “the whiskey on your breath”, “scraped a buckle”, and “you beat time on my head” reveal the abusive behavior of an alcoholic father toward his son. While reading this poem, the sensory and kinesthetic imagery immersed me in the experience.
Comparing and contrasting Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, one finds the two poems are similar with their themes of abuse, yet contrasting with how the themes are portrayed. Furthermore, the speaker 's feelings toward their fathers’ in each poem contrast. One speaker was hurt by the father and the other speaker was indifferent about how he was treated by his father. The fathers’ feelings toward the children are also different despite how each treated the child. Both poems accurately portray the parent-child relationships within an abusive home, even if they have different
My Papa’s Waltz is a poem written by Theodore Roethke. The poem is a memory of a short moment of his childhood. The setting of the poem is in a kitchen. The poem starts when the dad comes home and his son hangs himself on to his dad. This poem has a simple abab rhyme scheme.