My Papa's Waltz Syntax

"My Papa 's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is an interesting poem that begins with complexity. Theodore Roethke implicates the aspects of his childhood experience in this poem. This poem is immersed in metaphors, symbolism, and imagery that can overwhelm the readers with vagueness and doubts. Upon this poem 's interpretation, some people consider this poem as a parental abuse and some people see it as a son 's cheerful memory of an evening dancing with his father. The metaphors, symbols, and tone of this poem bring the impression of a child 's unconditional love for his abusive father.

My Papa’s Waltz, in my belief, is metaphorically speaking about an alcoholic father who abuses his child. Delivering the reader complete contentment is clearly not a main priority in this poem. Struggle is clearly present in this case where "Such waltzing was not easy"(4). The son "hung on like death” (3) builds a dark, unsettling image in one's mind and creates a feeling of suspense that is hard to ignore. Exultance is obtained in most cases

A Father’s Affection “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” describe a character who reflects on their childhood. Although they based on the same theme, the two poems have very different perspectives. “Those Winter Sundays” talks about how the son regrets for not showing his love for his father, when all his actions went unnoticed. “My Papa’s Waltz” reflects on a son 's memory with is father where his danced around the house after the father long day at work. Both poems reflect on how their fathers showed his love for his son, the time spent with their fathers, a maternal conflict, and their relationship with their father.

The “chronic angers” could also reference the clearly difficult relationship between the two characters in the poem. Regardless, the anger is “chronic,” suggesting that it is persistent, and the son “slowly” (8) begins his day, “fearing” those “chronic angers” (9). From the son’s fear, the reader can infer that the son connects the house’s anger to his father, regardless of the anger’s cause. Through his use of imagery and personification in the second stanza, Hayden firmly establishes the idea that the relationship between the father and his son

The subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” poem by Theodore Roethke has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz ” to describe the fond relationship with his father as a child. It has been argued that If he was being abused that he would have run away when he had the chance, rather, he didn’t want to let go of his father because they both were having fun. The son’s mother was growing due to motherly instinct out of her son’s safety of how crazy they were walzting, but made no attempts at the son and father’s intervention because it wasn’t necessary to interrupt them. Ultimately to describe

Ironic is shown in the lyrics, as well as the video. The song says that the people who we “hail” are actually “the worst of all.” (lines 6-7) The lyrics/singer is trying to express that the people who we hail, the ones we look up to, a famous person, a god, or even a close family/friend, are the most untrustworthy people. Uniformly, the video takes into the life of a boy whose threatened by his dad. We think our dad is the one who we respect, the person who has the most influence. However, not for this boy, his drunken; aggressive dad beats him up with a beer bottle that makes him the one who is unreliable and has the worst influence.

In conclusion, the poets expresses their feelings, thoughts, and emotions through poetry. The poems “ My Papa’s waltz and “Those Winter Sundays” make readers understand the relationship of a father and son and proves that both of the speakers love their father but never got a chance to actually express their feeling for them and now, realizing their mistakes, they made in the past and regretting it. They both are very talented writers who knows the best way to communicate the meaning of their feeling in the poems and have control over

I believe Roethke decided to use the title “My Papa’s Waltz” instead of “My Father’s Waltz” because the poem is about a memory from his childhood. The simile “hung on like death” gives us a good idea of how hard the speaker tries to keep his balance while “waltzing” with his father (lines 3-4). The facial expression of the speaker’s mother “could not unfrown itself” (8). The speaker’s mother appears to be annoyed because he and his father are making a mess in the kitchen. Even though I believe this poem can be interpreted in different ways, I feel that the speaker is portraying a positive image of his father.

The wording here is interesting due to the fact that it is only used during extreme circumstances. Roethke does the same sense of imagery with the word “beat” (13). Within the poem Roethke uses dancing to represent an abusive fight between father and his child. The reader can get this from the struggle of the boy to dance with his father and to keep up “But I hung on like death/such waltzing was not easy” (3-4). Also fully in the next stanza we get the scene of rough housing and the mother not approving but also not doing anything, “We romped/My mother’s countenance/Could not unfrown itself” (5-8).

MLA Heading Title While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to reminisce on a fond recollection of dancing and spending time with his father as a young boy. Roethke’s use of phrasing and diction allows for the reader to interpret contrasting meanings and storylines. On one hand people view the poem as a playful memory of Roethke and his father dancing through their home and having fun with each other. But, others depict the story as a dark one. In this case it is interpreted as Roethke’s relationship with his abusive and alcoholic father and the hardships he must face due to the situation.