My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

The tactile imagery reveals that there is cruelty, neglect and coldness in humanity. The speaker also predicts that his daughter will “relish in the sting of other’s agony” (10). The tactile and auditory imagery reveals that there is pain, suffering, as well as hatred in life. Another tactile imagery “mesh of seaweed snarled” (4-5) describes the feeling of having cold, slimy seaweed tangled around one’s wrists, suggest that the daughter is drowning. This imagery implies that accidents can happen in life.

One way in which imagery is creating the fearful tone is by Dad's drinking. In the Roethke's poem, "My Papa's Waltz", the imagery is used to develop the tone in which the boy is abused. An example of this can be seen when the speaker says,"But I hung on like death" (line 3). This line shows that the boy was scared of his father. This abuse that this boy was enduring was unbearable when the speaker states,"you beat time on my head" (13).

In stanza 3 states “But I hung on like death,” uses simile. It benefits the cause of alcohol that soon becomes tragic for the son. He’s gotten used to it that being abused, death can affect him. Additionally it touches people's ideas to illuminate the true meaning of the poem and to create a negative picture in the reader's mind that is shown by the son of an abusive father. In stanza 13 through 14, “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt.”

Throughout the poem the author uses imagery and tone to immerse the reader within the poem. The use of deep and disturbing imagery allows the reader to better understand the narrator’s point of view as well as how the issue being displayed relates to themselves. The issue of alcohol

The poem My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke, came from a collection of poems titled The Lost Son. All of these poems portray Roethke as a child torn between admiration of his father and disgust for his father’s actions. This particular poem reflects on the struggles Roethke endured in his childhood. When reading My Papa’s Waltz, the reader sees the father’s behavior through Roethke’s childhood memory. Rhyme, rhythm, irony, paradox and word choice are all effects that Roethke uses to convey his feelings towards his father.

Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” describes the relationship between the speaker and his father. Throughout the poem’s four stanzas, Roethke purposefully uses ambiguous language, imagery, and metaphors to express different scenarios that provide room for interpretation. The situation is either the speaker’s recount of a happy moment dancing with his beloved father, or, a recollection of a child that is terrorized by an abusive father. Roethke uses the waltz as a metaphor and extends this imagery through specific language to further develop the poem’s vague meaning to disguise the horrors or enhance the joys of this memory.

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, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, you see a child wanting a father’s love and care. The story opens up by talking about his father being a drunk. Although it does not directly say it, we can tell by the way the boy talks about his father, and his father’s actions. “The whiskey on your breath” (1) is the first line of the poem, which indicates someone talking about alcohol on someone’s breath. As the poem goes on you can start to pick up that it is getting told by a son.

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

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

It is clear from the beginning of “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke that the author intended for the poem to give a negative connotation to the reader. The poem not only involved a seemingly alcoholic father, but also a small boy whose experience was shaped by his father’s actions. The scene depicted is negative because of the way he is swung, hit on the head, and scraped by a belt buckle. The father, unaware of how rough he handles his son, swings his child around like he is on a merry-go-round.

In the poem, My Papa’s Waltz, the speaker, Theodore Roethke, writes about a father and son waltzing. Further investigation suggests there is more going on than a waltz. The poet utilizes figure of speech and a negative toned vocabulary throughout the poem. Thus, alleviating the reader of the harsh truth of an abusive relationship whilst never dehumanizing the father.

The speaker used that word so he could take the audience back to his pass to when he was a child. Irony is used in the poem in lines one and two, “The whiskey on your breath – Could make a small boy dizzy’ (Rocthke). The ironic part of these lines is that a boy cannot get drunk by just the whiff of another person’s breath that smells like they have been drinking a lot of whiskey. The lines suggest that Papa is drunk that could lead to the situation of violence toward the boy. Another view can be that the boy is small compared to the father.

A father and son romping around in the kitchen as the mother is looking. While others may view this poem as a family torn by a father's misfortunes. In line 1, the word “Whiskey” gives some characteristics of the fathers crooked ways. Continuing on, the signs of foul play and roughness with his hands, "battered on one knuckle", and "a palm caked hard by dirt".(11-14) More so, some of “Papa” few escapes most likely consist of a drink when he gets home from a rough day. Concluding, “Papa”makes his own family feel very uncomfortable around him.

In Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, the speaker seems to be an adult reminiscing his childhood through a metaphor of a dance. The poem suggests that the boy was abused and the mother stood by without doing much about it. Three topics that