Forgiving my Father and Say You Love Me

The fifth line says, “maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage.” This implies the father may have had a drinking problem since alcoholics tend to display violent behavior unexpectedly while under the influence. The poet extends the idea of a hot-tempered alcoholic in lines six and seven which state, “or making us nervous (6) because there never seemed to be any rage there at all (7).” This is say that the violent outbursts occurred on a regular basis and even though the father was not violent at certain moments the child knew it was the calm before the storm. The idea that this happened regularly further emphasizes that the father had an addiction to alcohol and his rage was the outcome of it; all of which, portray horrendous events a child lived through in their youth as a result of an unfit father.

Authors tend to write on subjects that they know the most about, or subjects that affect them on a personal level. Authors and poets use various aspects of life for the basis of their works, such as life experiences, romances, and family roles. Poems like “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “Forgiving My Father” by Lucille Clifton feature one of the most important roles in a family: a father. The two poems differ vastly in many regards, but many similarities surface among them and a common theme resides between them. Through the similarities they hold, the poems represent a common theme of regret for one’s lack of action.

The controversial poem, “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 bittersweet memory with his father. His unclear commemoration has sparked a divide on what the true purpose of the poem is. Some may argue the poem’s purpose is to shine light on the subject of abuse, whereas others believe the father and son were sharing a moment while “roughly playing.” However, the more one examines this piece of literature, it becomes undeniable that the poem portrays a scene of a toxic father-son relationship. Although there are a

The poems “Forgiving My Father” by Lucille Clifton and “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath highlight troubled relationships with the authors’ fathers. While most all family relationships have weakness and strife, the ones discussed in these writings are relationships that continue to haunt the authors many years after their fathers’ deaths. The poems are similar in the authors’ tone, point of view, their use of excuses for their fathers’ behavior, and their fathers’ treatment of the authors’ mothers.

Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” spurs passionate academic debates among professors, scholars, and students; the imagery, context, and diction of the poem clearly supports the interpretation that Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” reflecting on his relationship with his father. A relationship in which, notably, causes harm to the author. However, through all the nights Roethke spent in pain and in horror, his love for his father still exists. While many people believe that the author tells a lovely story of a fond memory with his father, it is not possible that the use of negative imagery and negative diction does not play a role in the story told. “My Papa’s Waltz” tells the story of a “small boy” who is abused by his father.

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 this ambiguous poem with the intent to create a controversial interpretation which can be viewed as both or either an abusive or fond memory between father and son. Both interpretations can be supported by multiple pieces of evidence which creates a conflict for the reader to need clarification for which way to interpret the poem.

In the essay, “Can We Love Our Battering Fathers?” Helen H. Gordon, the author, creates a vivid image of hopelessness in the family; she brings the experience of her tormented life to the readers mind with reflective writing. This is a reflective essay because throughout this essay she is reflecting back and forth on her life as she chooses a card for father’s day. Throughout this essay she has discussed how negatively her father treated her, her siblings and her mother but in despite of all the terror he created that did not change the fact that he is still her father therefore on each father’s day she has to play the part of a daughter and send him a father’s day card. The real challenge for

Clifton’s poem “forgiving my father” is about a speaker that has been tormented by the death of her father, not because he died, but because of the way he lived his life. He was unable to provide for his family, and she hated him for this. His inability to provide may have led her mother to work herself into an early grave, which only adds to her anger with her father. She spent her life hating him, but in the end, she realizes that he will never be able to make up for being financially unstable. She must forgive him and carry on with her life.

The poem, “forgiving my father,” written by Lucille Clifton is a poem of rant that can be assumed that the speaker has a tremendous amount on their chest that needs to be lifted off. The splurge of ranting may be caused by past experiences they may not completely agree with. The reader can assume both of the speaker’s parents are deceased and she is forced to deal with emotional debt that is left behind from her father. The speaker describes their father’s lack of emotional support for their family which consists of themself and their mother. The tone the speaker gives off towards their father is not forgiving due to actions that have occurred in the past. The first person speaker reveals her unhappiness with her father by incorporating

5. My Papa's Waltz and Those Winter Sundays” are poems that describe the relationship between a father and son. The speakers in both poems are looking back on their childhoods and their relationship with their fathers. The speakers of both My Papa's Waltz and Those Winter Sundays are describing their relationships with their fathers. Both of the fathers loves their children, but they express it differently. My Papa's Waltz, portrays a father who sacrifices a great deal for his son, but also brutalizes him. The poem suggest that, over time, the speaker has reached a reluctant forgiveness for his father. In, Those Winter Sundays, as a child, the speaker is ungrateful and unaware of what his father does for him. The son takes it for granted and does not even thank him when he came downstairs, after his father had risen so early to warm the rooms and polish

In each of the three poems, the dynamics of a relationship with a father are reflected upon by each poet. Each of the poems has a remarkably different feel to them. By using techniques such as mood, imagery and simile/metaphor, the poet is able to convey the emotions that are tied to their relationship with their father. In these examples, the relationships run a full gamut of emotions that each poet experienced. There is a display of lost opportunity mixed with regret in “Those Winter Sundays”, a fond recollection of times past in “My Father’s Hat” and memories of a harsh situation in “My Papa’s Waltz”.

Upon hearing the word daddy, pleasant thoughts such as love, support, and dependence usually come to mind. Daddy is the person that little girls relate to, and count on to fix anything from boo-boos to a broken heart. In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” one would expect to read about the love and comfort that a daddy can bring to a child, but after reading the first stanza it becomes clear that “Daddy” is far from anything lovely and beautiful. The speaker in “Daddy” is a girl who is emotionally torn. She has mixed emotions towards her father— deep love and strong hate.

When the speaker leaves her husband, she is also resolving her conflicting emotions over the dominating father she never had a chance to outgrow. The love and hate are “through,” as the poem indicates in the lines, “So daddy, I’m finally through” (68) and “Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through” (80). All the pain and suffering the speaker has experienced from her obsessive love-hate relationship with her father has finally ended. Plath’s poem is a powerful and terrifying description of love and hate and the psychological paralysis that can ruin a person’s

A parent’s words or actions  leave behind an astounding effect on a a childs. Whether positive or negative, those are moments that shape and alter the child’s life. In Sylvia Plath’s poem Daddy, the story tells how the narrator copes and continues her life after her father dies. Even after his harsh treatment and rude demeanor while he was alive, his stills is an entity that she herself lives her life by. Plath conveys the narrator’s of confinement with the use of metaphors, repetition, and allusion throughout the poem.