My Papa's Waltz Compare And Contrast

Although both Robert Hayden’s poem “The Whipping” and Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” both speak about abuse, they have very different tones. Hayden’s poem carries a tone of anger directed towards abusers. On the other hand, Roethke’s poem has a tone of pity for the abused. This difference can be accounted for by the narrator’s differing attitudes towards the abuse. The narrator in “The Whipping” is tormented by the memories of abuse. The memories bring him only pain and fear. He mentions “woundlike memories” and “the face that [he] / no longer knew or loved.” The narrator has come to despise his former abuser so much so that memories of her lead the narrator to shudder, recoil, and curl into himself as though he is reliving the