Comparing My Papa's Waltz And Those Winter Sundays

The Tone of “Daddy” and “My Papa’s Waltz” is what differentiates the two child-father relationships in the poems from one another with “Daddy” having a tone of hate and fear

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.

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers`perspective. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. Other people believe that this poem has a hidden message of parental abuse. In my point of view, the imagery and language, the symbolism, and tone in the poem gave me the impression of the love between the father and son, not of an abusive relationship.

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers` perspective. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. Others believe that it has a hidden message of child abuse. In my point of view, the imagery and language, the symbolism, and tone in My Papas Waltz gave me the impression of the abusive relationship between the father and son, but then later realizing the positive side.

My Papa’s Waltz takes a person back to the son’s childhood. The first two lines say, “The whiskey on your breath, could make a small boy dizzy”. This passage let the readers know what the memory was about. The memory of a father that drank a lot of whiskey. The child’s first memory, was the smell that was strong enough to make him dizzy. The next line said, “But I hung on like death”. The child did not care what the father was, or had done, he still held on to him tightly. During this time, the mother’s frown is one that will not unfrown or go away. The mother could not have been happy, because of her husband’s drinking problem. The next lines said, “The hand that held my wrist, was battered on one knuckle”. This could be interpreted as a possibility of abuse that the child remembers or, that his father worked hard and had injuries on his hands from work. The boy’s thoughts were of a father drinking too much and becoming abusive with his son. One reader had written that Roethke expresses his resentment for his father, a drunken brute with dirty hands and whiskey breath, who carelessly hurt the child’s ear and manhandled him (? 380). That makes a person think that there was some abuse from the father. The last

At first glance, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is very intriguing as the poem is very ambiguous at first. Many people that read the poem at first believe it to be about child abuse, which is very easy for readers of the 21st generation to confuse as we see everything with a dark meaning behind it. The poem is about a boy who dances with his father, hence the name of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”. Once the poem has been reread several times, we can take a closer look at what Roethke is really implying in the poem. Therefore, it becomes clear to the audience that the poem has a lighter meaning and has a more positive outlook than a negative outlook to the situation occurring in the poem.

The title "My Papa's Waltz" seems to be unfit for a contumelious father, yet, the kid still views his father with admiration.

In the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, the narrator is the “small boy” mentioned in the second line. He thoroughly describes every little thing about what his father is doing; this shows the large amount of imagery in the poem. This connection is obviously between a boy and his father; hence the title of the poem. Speaking of the title of the poem, it is exactly what is named. A waltz is a song “written in ¾ time,” this is normally a very “intimate type of dance” (Shmoop). There may be a danced being performed, but do not be fooled. Eventually, we realize that this poem is a lot worse that what most would originally think. This poem quickly goes from good

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

Every one of us has a childhood, some of us may experience a memorable one, while some of us want to erase it from our memory. Everyone also has their own personal feelings towards a father's figure due to their personal experiences they have as a child. The poems "My Father's Song," by Simon J. Ortiz, and "My Papa's Waltz," by Theodore Roethke, are two similar poems written about a father and child relationship. My Papa's Waltz" creates a debate whether the father-son relationship is sweet loving memory or a confession of childhood abuse. The two poems are spoken from the child's point of view during a memorable event in their childhood. The poems "My Father's Song and "My Papa's Waltz" both share a theme of admiration each kid has looking upon their father and a warm memory. The writers use a variety of poetic devices such as tone, word choice, imagery, and figurative language.

“Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, and “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, are partially similar stories about important fathers. In both poems, the writers look back on their childhood with affection and appreciation for their fathers. This porm enforces the reader to understnad the relationship and memories both of the poets shared with their fathers. Both of the fathers seem to be in the background and do anything the family needs. In the poem, "Those Winter Sundays," the father works hard for his family and is mindful of everyone in his fmaily.

In “Those Winter Sundays” the father isn’t shown the appreciation he deserves. He gets up early on Sundays and works with “cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather” (3-4). In “ My Papa’s Waltz,” the father is not as hard-working as the father in “Those Winter Sundays.” He was a drunk, as shown in the text when, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). This poem

In the poem My Papa’s Waltz, and the song Walk a Little Straighter , they both display similar themes and memories from their childhood. Both of these writers, the poet and the singer are turning back to their childhood memories about their father’s relationship.

As we grow up, whether it is our parents or others, we are given help to build a better future. In “Those Winter Sundays”, the speakers father provides large quantities of aid toward the speaker. In the first line of the first stanza, “Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold.” Hayden notes two very small details that are awfully important. The first two words encompass a great deal of love, “Sundays too.”. The word too implies that not only does the father wake

“Those Winter Sundays” written by Robert Hayden, depicts the ungratefulness that a young boy has towards his hardworking father. Later in the poem, as he matures, he begins to realize everything his father has done for him, and his feelings suddenly change. Throughout the poem, Hayden uses numerous examples of imagery, personification, and foreshadowing to show how the speaker’s attitude regarding his father transforms from the perspective of a child to the perspective of an adult.