A Defining Moment in My Papa’s Waltz Essay

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke illustrates an image of a father-son romp around the kitchen that is both harsh in its play and delicate in its memory. Roethke illustrates the poem’s images from his own childhood memories. Roethke uses simple words to create puzzling phrases that could be interpreted in different ways. The poem is ambiguous due to certain word choices that have baffling double meanings. Roethke’s poem paints an image of his childhood interactions with his father. Roethke paints this picture by using ambiguity within a waltz-like structure.

One of the most difficult, yet rewarding roles is that of a parent. The relationship between and parent and child is so complex and important that a parents relationship with her/his child can affect the relationship that the child has with his/her friends and lovers. A child will watch their parents and use them as role models and in turn project what the child has learned into all of the relationship that he child will have. The way a parent interacts with his/her child has a huge impact on the child’s social and emotional development. Such cases of parent and child relationships are presented in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy”. While Roethke and Plath both write about a dynamic between a child-father relationship that seems unhealthy and abusive, Plath writes about a complex and tense child-father relationship in which the child hates her father, whereas Roethke writes about a complex and more relaxed child-father relationship in which the son loves his father. Through the use of tone, rhyme, meter, and imagery, both poems illustrate different child-father relationships in which each child has a different set of feelings toward their father.

The sense of light also aids in the use of imagery. Visualizing the scene is important because the reader can understand the entire incident in the poem. The sense of sight is first introduced with the idea of the "waltz". The "waltz", however, symbolizes the battle between the father and son and is used as a reference throughout the poem. The first reference is in the title, "My Papa's Waltz". This reference continues throughout the poem by continually referring to the "waltz". The first stanza discusses the difficulty in waltzing when the son points out "waltzing was not easy" (4). This line paints a picture for the reader of a son dealing with the hardship of having an abusive father. The last stanza ends with a final reference to the "waltz". The father "waltzed me off to bed" which implies the son received another beating before bedtime (15). The symbolic meaning of the "waltz" enriches the abusive theme by

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.

As well, the waltz in the story becomes a symbol of an idealized and elusive relationship between father and son and leads to the title of the poem-"My Papa's Waltz." The last line of poem, "waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt" (line 15-16) infers the boy is very dependent on his father and shows his father loves him very much. The constant rhythm throughout the poem gives it a light beat, like a waltz; the reader feels like he is dancing. The rhythm of poem make a reader feel the joy of a child, not the somber sense of abuse, This is like a child dancing since there is no complicated structure, Moreover, stresses on words such as dizzy, easy, buckle, and knuckle give the poem a rather playful feel to the reader. A child who suffered abuse would not be using happy symbolism to remember his

A waltz is a song in ¾ time, meaning that there are three beats in each measure. Accordingly, the poem is written to sound like a waltz, making use of different spacing and separation of the lines. Certainly, this conjures up ideas of dancing and excitement. The way Roethke uses the exact word from the title at the end of the poem ties it together, giving it a sense of peace. Although “such waltzing was not easy,” the boy’s love for his father did not falter. In many cases, when something we truly love becomes difficult, we do not give up on it. In short, the flow the author uses emphasises the presence of his adoration for his father. The words he selects highlight the wonderful memories he has of this man who played an important role in his life.Notably, Roethke provides eye catching words that illustrate scenes that appeal to the same

The poem is much more innocent than what the modern reader may think. We can start off by looking at the title of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz.” A waltz is a ballroom and folk dance. Clearly, the speaker of the poem is speaking about his father and the dance. In the first stanza, the speaker explains how such waltzing with his father is not easy, as speaker’s father has had a little too much whiskey, which made the waltzing a little difficult as the father was under the influence and probably had difficulties keeping his balance. If we read on to the next stanza, it shows father is all over the place and having trouble keeping balance while dancing with his son in the kitchen. Mother seems to be upset about the situation, but only because pots and pans slid from the kitchen shelf onto the floor from all the romping. As we move on to the next stanza, the speaker explains how fathers knuckle is battered, which is most likely a result of injury from romping in the kitchen. Speaker also speaks about his right ear being scraped with every step his father missed. This could be because the speaker was a young, short boy who reached his father’s waistline and as they danced roughly the buckle will scrape his

In “My Papa’s Waltz” there are a plethora of word twists, hidden meanings, and thought provoking terminology. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the meaning of the word waltz is “a dance performed to music in triple time by couples who, almost embracing each other, swing round and round in the same direction with smooth and even steps, moving on as they gyrate.” The term of the “waltz” in this poem has many intricate, definitions and meanings. The waltz is a formal dance that is being held inside of a kitchen, in a not so formal way or setting. As stated in line 5 “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf;” with the term “romp” meaning “to play roughly or energetically (esp. of children and animals); to sport or frolic in a lively, light-hearted, or boisterous manner.”(5-6) The son in this poem is enjoying the memory of their time romping whilst the father is being commemorated by his son.

In comparing and contrasting the poems, "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke and "Piano" by D. H. Lawrence, the reader could also compare and contrast the childhood lives of the poets themselves. Roethke's father, Otto Roethke, was a drunk and a figure of terror to his son (Seager 26). His mother was an angry woman and Theodore was a desperate child consistently in the middle of his parent's opposition (Seager 28). D.H. Lawrence's father was a drunk, almost illiterate miner (Squires and Talbot 34). His mother; however, was educated, refined, and pious, ruling the lives of her sons (Squires and Talbot 42). Reviewing the form, tone, and imagery of both poems, the attitude of the boy towards his father in Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" allows

As the poem progresses, the boy’s tone becomes more playful which reinforces the serious statement about how much he cares for his father. The ‘waltz’ becomes less serious when he says, “We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf” (Roethke, 5). Using a word like romped is a deliberate attempt to make a serious event lighthearted and fun. The only reason a child would make this ‘waltz’ playful is because he wants to protect his father, whom he loves. As the last stanza explains, “You beat time on my head…Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.” (Roethke, 13-16) Again, the abuse is compared to a waltz which makes it seem lighthearted. The boy is taking a serious affair and making it into a fun event. He uses this good-natured tone because he loves his father and wants to justify this serious affair.

"We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf" (5-6). In numerous poems different readers vista a variety of ways to interpret what poems actually mean. This is very much true in Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." The quote mentioned has caused many misconceptions about what the poem; "My Papa's Waltz" actually refers to. The two superior interpretations of critics are that Roethke's poem describes abuse or a dance. The abuse seems much more apparent in "My Papa's Waltz" because of the language that Roethke uses. The dance is interpreted because the boy is innocent and knows nothing else therefore the abuse seems normal. The drunkenness of his Papa, the mother's

Roethke uses dramatic irony throughout the poem due to the fact that the reader knows what is going on, but the child does not. The reader knows that the father is under the influence of alcohol and is being abusive to the child and his mother, but the child does not know that, or he does not see it that way at least. In line four Roethke says, “Such waltzing was not easy.”. The child sees it as a graceful dance, for in this line he is saying that he cannot keep up with his father’s waltz since it is complex. That is only one side though, he might know the truth, but he just does not understand the reason for the choreography being used, that being his father’s despicable actions. He is covering the reality with the idea that he does not understand the steps to his father’s dance. He is in fact creating a happy

Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” illustrates a nightly ritual between a working-class father and his young son. In the first stanza a young boy holds tightly to his father. The second stanza describes a playful roughhousing between father and son. The fourth stanza shows again the boy’s unwillingness to let go of his father. Roethke’s AB rhyming scheme and waltz-like meter set a light and joyful cadence. The music of the waltz comes through in the reading and with it a carefree and innocent tone for the telling of the short amount of time between a hard-working father arriving home and the time when his son must go to bed.

Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz" is a Shakespearian sonnet composed of four couplet and of a rhyming scheme style a,b,a,b, which aids to depict the rhythmic movement of a waltz. The movement of the waltz is also conveyed to the reader through the actions of the poem.. For example, both the first couplet and the last couplet involve the child holding his father. And, in line 5 they "romped" which used to be said of renaissance and medieval women's attire

In “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, was a great poem that can mean many different things to many different people of this world. To me I think it was just a boy who just wanted to spend time with his dad before he has to go to bed. The boy probably does not get to spend time with his dad that much. The father probably works all day and all week and this is the only time the boy gets to spend with him. Roethke use of words in this poem is amazing. The use of the words in this story can mean different things to the reader. The first word to look at is the word waltz. In the dictionary the word waltz is a dance for a fast triple meter song. This is just what the father is doing with his son but his is drunk and dizzy. “But I hung on