Theodore Roethke And Daddy By Silvia Plath

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.

As well, the waltz in the story becomes a symbol of an idealized and elusive relationship between father and son and leads to the title of the poem-"My Papa's Waltz." The last line of poem, "waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt" (line 15-16) infers the boy is very dependent on his father and shows his father loves him very much. The constant rhythm throughout the poem gives it a light beat, like a waltz; the reader feels like he is dancing. The rhythm of poem make a reader feel the joy of a child, not the somber sense of abuse, This is like a child dancing since there is no complicated structure, Moreover, stresses on words such as dizzy, easy, buckle, and knuckle give the poem a rather playful feel to the reader. A child who suffered abuse would not be using happy symbolism to remember his

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

The poem is much more innocent than what the modern reader may think. We can start off by looking at the title of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz.” A waltz is a ballroom and folk dance. Clearly, the speaker of the poem is speaking about his father and the dance. In the first stanza, the speaker explains how such waltzing with his father is not easy, as speaker’s father has had a little too much whiskey, which made the waltzing a little difficult as the father was under the influence and probably had difficulties keeping his balance. If we read on to the next stanza, it shows father is all over the place and having trouble keeping balance while dancing with his son in the kitchen. Mother seems to be upset about the situation, but only because pots and pans slid from the kitchen shelf onto the floor from all the romping. As we move on to the next stanza, the speaker explains how fathers knuckle is battered, which is most likely a result of injury from romping in the kitchen. Speaker also speaks about his right ear being scraped with every step his father missed. This could be because the speaker was a young, short boy who reached his father’s waistline and as they danced roughly the buckle will scrape his

My Papa’s Waltz is a poem written by Theodore Roethke, published in his collection of poems in 1942. It captures the complex relationship the speaker has with his father. The speaker describes his relationship with his father as difficult and frightening using symbolism, tone, and word choice. The poem reveals that the speaker is afraid of his father although he still loves him. In this essay, I will explain how Roethke portrays their relationship with the aforementioned literary terms.

The way the poet wrote the poem made it so the reader can use there imagination and take it for what they see of it. This was a good technique to use because most poems have a set meaning but this one was unique in which you as the reader could choose how you took it as. Some may think that this is a just a happy poem, where the son and the father are dancing in the house for fun. As “waltzed” is used means that they are doing a current dance and there at home so readers may take it as they are just having fun before the little boy has

The last two lines of the poem are the key to understanding the tone and meaning behind the poem: “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). A perfect image of a son caught up in a moment with his father. Like all children he does not tire of the playtime. He doesn’t want to stop dancing; he doesn’t want to let go, and he doesn’t want to go to bed.

The poems “My Father’s Song” by Simon J. Ortiz and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, these two poems express uniqueness and similarities. In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” a young child describes his time spent with his father. In the poem “My Father’s Song” a grown man remembers the previous memories of time spent with his father, when he was a child. These two poems coincide through tone, word choice, and figurative language to show the relationship between a father and son.

The poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is a moving representation of childhood spent in a working middle class family. The speaker of this poem is a man recalling his childhood, his father and his mother through the means of a waltz. The following essay will present a detailed analysis of the dramatic situation and speaker through the explanations of the various poetic tools used in this poem such as similes, choice of words and style.

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.

Readers need to analyze the imagery of Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” in order to better understand the subject. Line 3 stanza 1 “But I hung on like death,” expressed how even though he is a small child, his love towards waltzing encouraged him to try. Roethke in line 3 stanza 4 “Then waltzed me off to bed,” demonstrates the use of “waltz.” It means

Before analyzing, the first thing to look at is the background of the poet, Theodore Roethke. Roethke’s father died of cancer when he was fifteen (Wikipedia). It is then assumable that the waltz of Roethke and his father is one of the few memories involving his father as he passed away so early.

The roles a father plays can be very different from individual to individual. As we dive into the two poems we will see how much these two fathers are really compared and what the role of a father is to a child in their perspective. The two poems I’ve chosen to work with is My Papa Waltz and Daddy. I will say that picking these two poems is a good choice because both of these poems cast a negative view on the father from child’s view even though the child in my Papa Waltz does not resent his father. By comparing the two fathers we will understand why the tones are so alike and different at the same time. Also we will compare and contrast the words in each because each word has a specific meaning that can be misused in several ways. So we will understand a father’s love for a child.

Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, is subject to the interpretation of the reader. One may choose to see waltz as a recollection of a beautiful moment in time. Another interpretation has a much darker tone as one could choose to see the violence within the movement of the waltz and not the beauty for which it is known. Thus, one may interpret the poem as a fond memory of a father as told by his son, the author. However, the poem could also be viewed as a revelation of a complicated relationship between a father and a son.