Theodore Roethke My Papas Waltz Analysis
My Papas Waltz, written by Theodore Roethke writes a poem about his childhood, and his drunk father who he never seemed to have a problem with, until he saw his father was harming him in a sense. The first stanza was talking about how he could smell his fathers breath, the smell of whisky, but he still danced on. The second stanza was still about them dancing and going on just messing around. The third stanza then starts to go away from the innocence and talk about the violence that was happening to him. The last stanza was about him being fine with the situation, and still loving his father for the state he is in.
The first stanza of the poem was able to add rhyming and add emphasis of the scenerio and the stuff that was going on. He had
“breath” and “death” rhyming in the first and third lines, then in the second and fourth lines he had “dizzy” and “easy”. He was able to make the point that his father was getting very drunk, and he did that by adding “The whisky on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy;”.. (Lines 1 and 2) Even though his father was drunk he was still able to make the most out of it, by “waltzing’ with him.
In the second stanza he then goes into them dancing “We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;” showing that he was having a totally normal time with his father, not worrying about his unsoberness. Roethke was able to have “shelf and “itself” rhyming in the stanza. Mainly the second stanza ties in with the first stanza.
In the third stanza that’s when it starts to get a little intense, talking about abuse throughout the whole stanza “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle.” (all lines)he was literally talking about all of that harm which has happened to him.
In the fourth stanza, he was able to make the ‘beating’ or the ‘abuse’ seem like it wasn’t that big of a deal. He was showing that even though his father was violent he still always went back to him.
This Poem was about a son who his father was often drunk, and when he was he seemed to be oftenly abusing his son, but luckily his son always looked past that and loved him.
The first stanza of the poem was able to add rhyming and add emphasis of the scenerio and the stuff that was going on. He had
“breath” and “death” rhyming in the first and third lines, then in the second and fourth lines he had “dizzy” and “easy”. He was able to make the point that his father was getting very drunk, and he did that by adding “The whisky on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy;”.. (Lines 1 and 2) Even though his father was drunk he was still able to make the most out of it, by “waltzing’ with him.
In the second stanza he then goes into them dancing “We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;” showing that he was having a totally normal time with his father, not worrying about his unsoberness. Roethke was able to have “shelf and “itself” rhyming in the stanza. Mainly the second stanza ties in with the first stanza.
In the third stanza that’s when it starts to get a little intense, talking about abuse throughout the whole stanza “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle.” (all lines)he was literally talking about all of that harm which has happened to him.
In the fourth stanza, he was able to make the ‘beating’ or the ‘abuse’ seem like it wasn’t that big of a deal. He was showing that even though his father was violent he still always went back to him.
This Poem was about a son who his father was often drunk, and when he was he seemed to be oftenly abusing his son, but luckily his son always looked past that and loved him.