My Papa's Waltz
The author of My Papa’s Waltz, Theodore Roethke, portrays the speaker of the poem’s childhood in a surprisingly dark, negative tone. At first glance, it appears to be an innocent story of a child who dances around one night with his silly, happily drunken father. However, a close reading and analysis of the poem will show that this is not the case. For example, the line “You beat time on my head” refers to the child being hit and smacked. This line has a very negative connotation when it is fully analyzed. What is really going on is that he his being abused by his angry drunken father. This is memorable because it is presented in a way in which it seems that the speaker feels he does not have permission to, or that he is unable to communicate
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with others about this. It’s as if his feelings are trying to hide behind the words of the poem, rather than using them to become exposed. This may even show that the speaker would still fear the abuse and his father to this very day. It may be a reach out for help. And it is for the help that he should have, but had not, received as a child, when this was occurring.
The poem also clearly expresses how terrible the speaker’s father truly was. The lines “The whiskey on your breath/Could make a small boy dizzy” show that he is very drunk, which is a sign of a careless, deadbeat father. The lines “My mother’s countenance/Could not unfrown itself” show that even the mother doesn’t know how to deal with the situation. One may infer that she is also abused by him, which might explain why she did not take action against him. She was in just as much fear as the child was. “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle” refers to the father’s fist, which was battered because he had been constantly hitting his son and possibly his wife. The writer, although it does seem to be somewhat hidden, wants to create the idea of the prototypical “deadbeat father.” He wants the reader to be disgusted with this man and what he does to his family. This makes the poem seem almost like a hateful ode to the speaker’s father. He wants that effect to stay with the reader for a long time. The author may have had similar experiences in his childhood, and his written this not only as a sort of call for help, but also as an answer to someone else’s cry.
The author of Daffodils, William Wordsworth, uses the words of his poem to express the beauty of the scene he has witnessed for a multitude of senses.
He states in the first stanza that he wanders “lonely as a cloud/That floats on high o’er vales and hills,” which, in just reading the first line, may seem a bit melancholy. However, interpreting the vision of a magnificent cloud alone in the sky puts a positive spin on the idea. Additionally, the second line serves as a reminder of that positivity. He then refers to a vast expanse of flowers as “a crowd,/a host, of golden daffodils,” suggesting that the amount of flowers is overwhelming, but in no way is it a sign that one should not venture further. On the contrary, it seems a lot more like an invitation to join in on the ‘party’ that the flowers are having. If Wordsworth had simply called it “a bunch/a group of flowers,” it would not have had nearly the same effect, because ‘group’ and ‘crowd’ have very different implications as far as size goes. He furthers the hyperbole in the second stanza by calling the flowers “Continuous as the stars that shine/And twinkle on the milky way.” For most, the number of stars in our galaxy is entirely unfathomable. Furthermore, the idea of that many things existing in just one area on our planet is almost overwhelming, and it puts a great sprightly feeling into the reader’s
head.
In the third stanza, Wordsworth mentions that “A poet could not but be gay,/In such jocund company,” which implies that even the saddest, most depressed of all poets would still become giddy at the sight of the wondrous landscape of daffodils. This would cause the reader to think about what will make them happy in any situation despite the circumstances. The author also mentions the “wealth the show to me had brought,” which makes a comparison between his experience to actual, usable currency. Readers would be able to connect and understand how much the speaker valued the experience. In the fourth stanza, the author talks about sitting “In vacant or in pensive mood,” in one line, then discusses the “bliss of solitude” in the next few lines. To readers, the idea of complete loneliness may seem dismal. Nevertheless, the author is clearly happier when he is alone with his thoughts, and he has been very articulate in expressing this idea. Consequently, this thought may even cause the reader to feel that they are never truly alone, as far as thinking goes, because they can always think about past experiences and memories with themselves and have a good time.
with others about this. It’s as if his feelings are trying to hide behind the words of the poem, rather than using them to become exposed. This may even show that the speaker would still fear the abuse and his father to this very day. It may be a reach out for help. And it is for the help that he should have, but had not, received as a child, when this was occurring.
The poem also clearly expresses how terrible the speaker’s father truly was. The lines “The whiskey on your breath/Could make a small boy dizzy” show that he is very drunk, which is a sign of a careless, deadbeat father. The lines “My mother’s countenance/Could not unfrown itself” show that even the mother doesn’t know how to deal with the situation. One may infer that she is also abused by him, which might explain why she did not take action against him. She was in just as much fear as the child was. “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle” refers to the father’s fist, which was battered because he had been constantly hitting his son and possibly his wife. The writer, although it does seem to be somewhat hidden, wants to create the idea of the prototypical “deadbeat father.” He wants the reader to be disgusted with this man and what he does to his family. This makes the poem seem almost like a hateful ode to the speaker’s father. He wants that effect to stay with the reader for a long time. The author may have had similar experiences in his childhood, and his written this not only as a sort of call for help, but also as an answer to someone else’s cry.
The author of Daffodils, William Wordsworth, uses the words of his poem to express the beauty of the scene he has witnessed for a multitude of senses.
He states in the first stanza that he wanders “lonely as a cloud/That floats on high o’er vales and hills,” which, in just reading the first line, may seem a bit melancholy. However, interpreting the vision of a magnificent cloud alone in the sky puts a positive spin on the idea. Additionally, the second line serves as a reminder of that positivity. He then refers to a vast expanse of flowers as “a crowd,/a host, of golden daffodils,” suggesting that the amount of flowers is overwhelming, but in no way is it a sign that one should not venture further. On the contrary, it seems a lot more like an invitation to join in on the ‘party’ that the flowers are having. If Wordsworth had simply called it “a bunch/a group of flowers,” it would not have had nearly the same effect, because ‘group’ and ‘crowd’ have very different implications as far as size goes. He furthers the hyperbole in the second stanza by calling the flowers “Continuous as the stars that shine/And twinkle on the milky way.” For most, the number of stars in our galaxy is entirely unfathomable. Furthermore, the idea of that many things existing in just one area on our planet is almost overwhelming, and it puts a great sprightly feeling into the reader’s
head.
In the third stanza, Wordsworth mentions that “A poet could not but be gay,/In such jocund company,” which implies that even the saddest, most depressed of all poets would still become giddy at the sight of the wondrous landscape of daffodils. This would cause the reader to think about what will make them happy in any situation despite the circumstances. The author also mentions the “wealth the show to me had brought,” which makes a comparison between his experience to actual, usable currency. Readers would be able to connect and understand how much the speaker valued the experience. In the fourth stanza, the author talks about sitting “In vacant or in pensive mood,” in one line, then discusses the “bliss of solitude” in the next few lines. To readers, the idea of complete loneliness may seem dismal. Nevertheless, the author is clearly happier when he is alone with his thoughts, and he has been very articulate in expressing this idea. Consequently, this thought may even cause the reader to feel that they are never truly alone, as far as thinking goes, because they can always think about past experiences and memories with themselves and have a good time.