My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

In the analysis of Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays,” both modernistic and highly respected poets similarly write with a sense of reminiscence of childhood experiences. Similarly, both poems are about a memory as a boy looking back at a specific time in their lives and the love they have for their respected fathers. A similar implication is expressed in the way of their lives not being perfect, but still remaining a humble family. This is shown within the first stanza of “My Papa’s Waltz” with an intoxicated father, as well as the first stanza of “Those Winter Sundays” with a hard-working, yet poor and achy father. Both poets’ usage of figurative language is present in ways of metaphorically speaking and alliteration. For example, in Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays,” the speaker compares the cold to an object that can splinter and break, by insinuating “I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.” (Hayden, line 5) More so, in Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” the term “But I hung on like death” (Roethke, line 3) is presented as a metaphor as well. They have some common poetic themes shared between such as love, family, and admiration, however, they are presented in different ways in accordance their tones, making them unique. In analyzing the two, although quite similar, the structure, mechanics, tones, settings, and the interpreted mood of the poem, brings justification on their differences.

“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.

The poems “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden are two poems that both describe a father’s relationship with their son. My Papa’s Waltz suggests that a boy’s farther that is an alcoholic and regardless of his alcohol abuse his son clings onto him as they dance together. In “Those Winter Sundays” it is implied that a boy is reflecting on how hard his farther worked, but he had not been appreciative and had taken his father’s hard work for granted. Though the relationships are very different, both poets use writing techniques and literary devices such as imagery, form, and sound to effectively describe the relationships between a farther and son. “Those Winter Sundays” uses figurative language

Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” has spurred 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

In the two poems “Those winter Sundays” and “My Papa’s Waltz” the authors are remembering their childhood with their fathers. The first poem “Those Winter Sundays” it is about a man who gets up early in the morning and builds a fire for his family. It also is saying how no one ever thanked him for his hard work. The second poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is about how as a boy, the author would dance around with his father, and how he could smell the alcohol on his father’s breath. It was an unpleasant feeling but the son got over the difficulties of it and loved to dance with him. The two poems explore the relationship between the speakers and their fathers. The relationship in the two poems show through author’s childhood memories, of their father’s actions and how the son responded to those actions.

Carolyn Spring once stated, “The happy family is a myth for many,” and Theodore Roethke, sadly, proves that to be to true. In the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” Roethke illustrates an abusive relationship between an angry drunkard of a father and his child. The ‘dance’ being described is really the act of the father injuring his child; the waltz is a metaphor for the abusive acts taking place. Roethke orchestrates the vile wrongdoings of the father not only with various literary devices, such as tone, structure, figurative language, imagery, and diction, but also in the descriptions of the mother, father, and the child narrating this poem. All in all, in“My Papa’s Waltz” Theodore Roethke provides readers a twisted look inside of a dysfunctional, abusive family through the characters: the father, mother, and a child.

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

"My Papa's Waltz" is a poem presented in a form that uses specific images and language to present a happy memory that a man has of his father, even in a situation where his father was drunk. Words such as "romped" (line 5), "waltzing" (line 4), "clinging to your shirt," (line 16)

Childhood is where it all begins, where a child is usually looking for some sort of guidance and affection. Relationships in a family is significant as they portray how a child will hide attitudes towards their parents, sometimes through their delusions, other times through their silence. The poems "My Papa's Waltz", by Theodor Roethke and "Those Winter Sundays", by Robert Hayden use the theme of emotionally-based childhood experiences for the love of their fathers, but are displayed in different ways. The fundamental message conveyed is the importance of a father-son relationship.

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

The role a father plays in the development of his child leaves an impact on the kid forever. On the contrary, the poor representation of a father can leave his own seed feeling distasteful from his own childhood. In the poems "Those Winter Sundays" written by Robert Hayden, and "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, their lies a difference in both patriarchs that is as vast as light and dark. The writers tell their stories in a retrospective form. At any rate, both poems do share a dad that is at least present in their kids' lives, however, it is important to note that in "Those Winter Sundays," the father is a hard-working man that is unappreciated from his child, while in "My Papa's Waltz," the father is abusive to his kid and

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.

A child’s future is usually determined by how their parent’s raise them. Their characteristics reflect how life at home was like, if it had an impeccable effect or destroyed the child’s entire outlook on life. Usually, authors of any type of literature use their experiences in life to help inspire their writing and develop emotion to their works. Poetry is a type of literary work in which there is an intensity given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinct styles and rhythm. These distinct styles include different types of poems such as sonnets, villanelles, free verse, imagist poems, and many more. And these distinct styles are accentuated with the use of literary devices such as metaphors, similes, imagery, personification, rhyme, meter, and more. As a whole, a poem depicts emotions the author and reader’s can relate to. In the poem’s “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, and “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, we read about two different parent and child relationships. These two poems help portray the flaws and strength’s parents exhibit and how their children follow their actions and use it as a take away in their grown up lives.

Another abusive incident which appeals to the sense of touch occurs in the fourth stanza. The father "beat time on [the son's] head" with a "palm caked hand of dirt" (13-14). These lines create a picture of the father as a working man who takes aggression out on his son. Appealing to the sense of touch better illustrates the physical pain the son endures. The sense of touch used in the third and fourth stanza's help to prove that the poem has a negative and abusive theme.

“Those Winter Sundays” is a short lyric poem. It is written in a simple language and is clear and precise. Its metaphors are those of everyday life. The opening stanza of the poem, which refers to “my father,” establishes a first-person speaker. It also shows that the speaker is recalling a time when he was a child. The speaker presents us with the atmosphere around which his father worked. For example in lines one and two, “Sundays too my father got up early/blueblack cold” (1-2). Here the “Sundays”, and the “early” signifies the great devotion of speaker’s father. He gets up early even on Sundays,