My Papa 's Waltz And For My Daughter

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.

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.

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

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

In the poem My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke, he looks back in his memory as a child and explains the love he has for his father despite all the flaws his father holds. Roethke describes his emotions through this poem by using diction, imagery, and the use of tone.

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.

"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

Child abuse is physical mistreatment that unfortunately happens to children everywhere around the world. In the same way, the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, describes and gives the readers an insight of what child abuse is like. The poem presents a relationship between a drunken father and his son. Therefore, the setting, sensory details, and word choice of the poem allows the reader to understand the violence the little boy goes through after his father returns from work.

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

In my “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke conveys the nostalgia for the loving relationship with his father through the use of imagery and diction. While dancing around the room, the speaker describes his father’s hand by saying, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle, with a palm caked hard by dirt,” (Roethke 935). By describing the father's hand with words like ‘battered’ and ‘dirt,’ it is implied that the hardworking father just came home from a long day of physical work. Even though the father is most likely tired, he still makes time for his son. As a parent, he instinctively knows that making his son happy is what is most important.

In the poem " My Papa's Waltz" is a story told of a father who comes home drunk "The Whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy" and playfully dances "waltz" with his son. It can be inferred that before coming home he either fell or got into an altercation because of the dirt on his palm and the scrapes on his knuckles. Because he has had too much to drink he dances roughly with his child however they are having fun. In the last lines it states " Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt" which implies that even though the father apparently an drinking problem he still loves his father because despite his actions. In the poem "Do not go gentle into that goodnight" the boy is trying to convince his father to not give