Comparing My Papa's Waltz And Sonnet 130

William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” and Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Love Is Not All” both attempt to define love, by telling what love is and what it is not. Shakespeare’s sonnet praises love and speaks of love in its most ideal form, while Millay’s poem begins by giving the impression that the speaker feels that love is not all, but during the unfolding of the poem we find the ironic truth that love is all. Shakespeare, on the other hand, depicts love as perfect and necessary from the beginning to the end of his poem. Although these two authors have taken two completely different approaches, both have worked to show the importance of love and to define it. However, Shakespeare is most confident of his definition of love, while Millay seems

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.

“Sonnet 116” written by William Shakespeare is focusing on the strength and true power of love. Love is a feeling that sustainable to alterations, that take place at certain points in life, and love is even stronger than a breakup because separation cannot eliminate feelings. The writer makes use of metaphors expressing love as a feeling of mind not just heart as young readers may see it. To Shakespeare love is an immortal felling that is similar to a mark on a person’s life.

Within sonnet 116, Shakespeare personifies the abstract noun of love when he states ‘Whose worth’s unknown’. Through personifying his ideology of true love, it makes it increasingly

Roethke's usage of poetic devices place emphasis on the conditions in which the speaker experiences as a young child. Although the whiskey on the father of the speaker's breath is very strong, the speaker continuously " . . .hung on like death" (3) and candidly states that "Such waltzing was not easy" (4). The usage of simile by comparing the speaker's clinging of his father's shirt to death places emphasis on the feelings and emotions that are present in the household. Knowing that his " . . . mother's countenance could not unfrown itself" is an example of imagery that further adds to the turmoil and negative events that exist in the speaker's home by allowing readers to visualize the facial expressions that are present (7-8). Not only do the poetic devices contribute to the meaning of the poem, but it also contributes to the tone as well.

Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is ambiguous and contains mixed feelings about his father. Throughout his life, Roethke had problems relating to alcohol addiction and psychological breakdowns (McRoberts, n.d.). As an adult to confront personal tensions, he uses his childhood memories to create a window into the past to move forward with his life. We learn his father had been drinking whiskey from the lines “The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). “A simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as” (simile, n.d.). Roethke uses a simile to describe his perspective of the dance and life with his father as a child with the lines “But I hung on like death: Such waltzing

In “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, we can interpret many themes, however the one theme that seems apparent is the meaning of hope and admiration. Often as a child, we adore our loved ones, no matter what situation we are in. As humans, we tend to make excuses for the ones we love most. In this poem, a man looks back on his childhood and explains his relationship with his father as a dance, as if he didn’t quite understand their connection. By analyzing this poem’s metaphors, language and imagery, it is evident that this small boy is going through an abusive situation, but we can comprehend that no matter what conflict people go through, they can still have veneration and a sense of hope.

My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke (380), was a great poem. When I first read the poem, I pictured it as a young boy describing his father’s abusive and drunken ways. And the hardship the young boy dealt with living in his home. Despite the fact, what the young boy was dealing with, he still seemed to adore his father. The mother seemed to be upset with the father as he was drunk dancing with their child. However, I read it a few times more and I seemed to understand it in a different point of view. I understood it as, the bond that a child and father had. All though many readers do interpret words in different ways, because of the use of connotation and tone of the poem, but the tone of the story is a child describing the love he has for

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

Admittedly, Roethke uses imagery to convey the devoted relationship of him and his father. For instance, in the first paragraph the author illustrates, “. . .whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy. . . hung on like death; such waltzing was not easy.” Despite the fact that Roethke’s father is intoxicated, he still hangs on to him. These phrases help highlight the idea that Roethke has a doting relationship with his father and his unwillingness to leave him. Further in the poem, “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf,” reveals their playful relationship. One can see from this, the crashing of the pots and the sounds of laughter. On another note, the mother has a facial expression that “could not unfrown itself.” This phrase helps reveal that the mother isn’t involved in their play. She does not favor the fact that her pots are jumbling all over her kitchen. As well as in the last stanza, Roethke illustrates that his father’s hand is

The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke looks into the relationship of a father and son back in Theodore Roethke childhood. In this poem the son admires his father very much and reminisce on the things they once did together. “My Papa’s Waltz” shows the love or fear between a son and father, how hard the father works to take care of the family and the special bond the father and son shared in dancing together.

This short poem has a lot to say about a father and son’s relationship even though it does not directly say it. Theodore Roethke published My Papa’s Waltz in 1942 and got the idea to write this poem from one of his books The Lost Son. This poem can be interpreted as an abusive relationship between a son and his father or simply a happy memory of a son dancing with his father. My Papa’s Waltz is a metaphor for a child being beat by his abusive father but plays it off as if it were just a dance.

Love. A feeling of strong or constant affection for a person, according to merriam-webster.com. Love is what brings people together and creates societies. It’s been a part of people's lives for hundreds and thousands of years. Someone's relationship with other people is important, and it’s good to maintain a healthy connection. During the time of the Renaissance, artwork, plays, and books were all centered around the crucial topic of love. William Shakespeare, celebrated actor, poet, and playwright, is one of the many writers who choose love as the center point for creating numerous wonderful pieces of work. Many of his plays such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet revolve around this topic. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and Sonnet 130 also fall into this category. While both sonnets express the true feelings of love, one sonnet does it in a playful, affectionate, and admiring way

Everyone needs love and attention from the people around them as well as somebody to love. Nevertheless, sometimes you can do everything that is in your power, yet love does not work out like you wanted it to. Maybe your affection is not reciprocated or it might not fit into other people’s conception of love. “Sonnet CXXX” and “Sonnet CXLIX”, both written by William Shakespeare and from his collection “Shakespeare’s Sonnets” which was published in 1609, deals with above-mentioned themes as well as love in general.

The way a child builds a relationship with their father figure is based on the experiences that they have shared together. This is coherent in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, in which an adult son recalls his time spent “waltzing” with his father as a small child. Due to the doubtful relationship between the two, readers of Roethke’s 1942 poem often create interpretations that are divergent from each other. Some speculate that the poem is about a son realizing and accepting his childhood abuse. Others believe that it is about a son reminiscing about the joyous events that occured in his youth. In re consideration, “My Papa’s Waltz” is an overlap of both theories, proving a child’s contradictory feelings towards his father through the use of tone, symbolism, and rhythm and rhyme .