Essay Analysis of Poems by Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden

Here the reader can get the impression the activities the father and his son are engaged in could be a playful event making this positive. However, once you have read the entire first stanza it is easy to see the father is disciplining his son. The line “But hung on like death” and “Such waltzing was not easy” could be perceived as the father singing his son around in a circle, the boy holding on to his fathers arm in such a tight grip so not to fall. Nevertheless, I feel Roethke uses the fourth line “Such waltzing was not easy” to interpret the father chasing the boy around the kitchen trying to catch him in a state of drunken

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

As Papa playfully swings the boy around, the boy thinks "but I hung on like death / such waltzing was not easy." (3-4) The reader feels the rush of adrenaline the boy experiences. He relates the waltzing to the uneasiness that comes with riding a roller coaster or racing in a car. Such activities that can make one's heart beat faster, but cause no real danger. Additionally, Roethke notes "we romped until the pans / slid from the kitchen shelf,"(5-6) allowing the reader to visualize the efforts of Papa and his son as they swing, dance, and play together. The dishware and pans sliding to the floor as Papa clumsily laughs and dances, offers some comic relief to the reader. Furthermore, the bonding experience is displayed as enjoyable to the son when he remembers that his father then "waltzed [him] off to bed / still clinging to [the father's] shirt." (15-16) The reader realizes the son still wants to play and be close with his father even when bedtime has arrived. The images within the poem add to the memorable moment.

Some people drink for the sport of getting drunk. However, in this poem, the father is not a pleasant drunk to be around. When the speaker states "We romped until the pans / slid from the kitchen shelf," the reader gets the impression that the father is roughhousing with the son (5-6). It is not until the speaker says "The hand that held my wrist (9)" that one realizes that he is being physically held by his father. The child has no choice but to keep on "waltzing." There is nobody that is going to stop what is going on in this house due to the fact that the mother is simply watching. The boy did not realize his father was doing anything wrong until he remembers back to his childhood and comes to understand what really happened. He discovers that his childhood wasn't actually like everyone else. That may be why the speaker is now looking back on these drunken nights and remembering how horrible they were.

However, parts of this poem show the fear the son has for his father. "We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf" describes that they are having fun as they romped around the house even though they are being wreck less. Roethke describes the caring nature of his father for his son when he said, "The hand that held my wrist”. The holding hand symbolizes the close relationship that they had. This contrasts with the beginning of the poems first lines; "[t]he wiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy.” This gives an impression of a father being drunk who has the ability to hurt the child. This ingrains the fear into the child.

In both “Those Winter Sundays” and “My Papas Waltz,” the speakers reminisce about their fathers. Although the speakers’ father in each poem is a man who loves and works hard for his son, each father displays his love for his son through different acts. In “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, the speakers father indirectly expresses his undying love to his son through rigorous work around the house. The father is always striving to improve the house and make sure his son is comfortable, while in “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, the father leaves his work at the front door and enjoys romping about with his son, the whole time bumbling about, carelessly destroying everything in his path. Each respective poem has evidence of how the fathers of their sons love their sons as displayed through the tone, imagery and personality

The strongest literary device Roethke uses to convey the speaker’s relationship with his father is symbolism. The waltz symbolizes the way they interact when his father comes home drunk. The waltz also serves as an extended metaphor for the relationship the speaker has with his father, representing the difficult and scary bond the two have. When the speaker says “We romped until the pans... Slid from the kitchen shelf...” on lines six and seven, it becomes clear that this is not an ordinary dance, and that the father was abusing his son. On line three the speaker says “But I hung on like death”, this presents a scary and dangerous tone. He holds on to his father, like death, to represent that he isn’t going anywhere, similar to how death is inevitable, the father will not be able to get rid of his son. The speaker continues to hold on to his father, the audience can tell that although he is being hurt and he is scared, he still values his dad.

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.

Theodore Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1908 he was only fourteen years old when he lost his father due to cancer. He idolized him following him everywhere and anywhere, because he was his hero. Roethke spent a lot of his younger days working in a greenhouse with his father they practically lived there considering all the hours they spent together there. “My Papa’s Waltz” is just one of the many poems that the greenhouse is reflected in his writing. From the beginning of this poem in the first two lines presented in the introduction Roethke leaves us with the connotation of his father has been drinking whiskey and it has not been light drinking. He has drank so much that it has stained his breath to the point where it could make a young boy dizzy as it does with his son. By saying his son hangs on to him like death shows us that he has become dizzy by his breath and using the word death shows it is not one of the better memories he has in the vault of their relationship.

The last two lines of the poem are the key to understanding the tone and meaning behind the poem: “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). A perfect image of a son caught up in a moment with his father. Like all children he does not tire of the playtime. He doesn’t want to stop dancing; he doesn’t want to let go, and he doesn’t want to go to bed.

Along with that, the last interpretation Roethke left upon the relationship of the drunk father and his boy is caring. Theodore explains the action of the boy on his way to his bed as “clinging to your shirt” (Roethke Line 16).

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

The poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is not about child abuse but is about how a son loves his father. The stanzas in this poem seem to be straightforward; however, they hold a deeper meaning. In the poem, Theodore Roethke writes, “But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy”. (Lines 3-4) These lines could be viewed as if the narrator was clinging on for fear of his own life.

In “My Papa’s Waltz” Theodore Roethke describes an episode in his childhood where his drunken father returns from home, with the smell of whisky, and begins to dance with him. He illustrates how his father’s hands are “battered on one knuckle” (Roethke, 10) and each step caused his right ear to scrape a buckle, along with how the mother’s expression reveals a frown. This continued until he was waltzed to bed, left clingy to his father’s shirt, his love is not necessarily expressed through a gentle caress. Roethke’s father is most likely a hard worker and comes home late because of the need to provide for his family. While in “Those Winter Sundays,” Robert Hayden describes how on Sunday mornings, his father rises early, puts on his clothes while the room is still dark, and then goes out into the cold to split firewood to use in order to warm the house. Once the entire house is filled with warmth,

As the poem continues it is depicted the son is waltzed into his bedroom. Another line of the poem “still clinging to your shirt” depicts the affection the son had towards his father. Though it is not clear that all this memory was a pleasant or not but the use of word “papa” within the title clearly depicts the love he had towards his father. And it seems that the author is mourning the death of his father and this loss was not a pleasant experience for his. With the help of this poem he is recalling all his past