Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother ’s countenance Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt‚ Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt The poem‚ "My Papa ’s Waltz"‚ written by Theodore Roethke‚ is written in such a way that creates many debate and contestation
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"My Papa’s Waltz" Analysis In the poem "My Papa’s Waltz" by Theodore Roethke‚ the speaker is reflecting on a childhood experience involving his father. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy relationship between a father and son. Other people believe that this poem has a hidden message of parental abuse. In my point of view‚ the imagery and language‚ the symbolism‚ and tone in the poem gave me the impression of the love between the father and son‚ not of an abusive relationship. You
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Theodore Roethke wrote the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” which reflects on his childhood memories of his father carrying him to bed. He reminisces about a past memory of him clinging to his father while walking through the house in a drunken state. He remembers how the voluminous smell of whiskey on his father’s breath could make him dizzy. How his father would accidently knock the pans until they fell off the kitchen shelf still lingers in his memory. He recalls his ear being scraped against his father’s
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"My Papa’s Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is a four quatrain poem written in iambic trimeter. The rhyme scheme present is abab‚ cdcd‚ efef‚ and ghgh. In the poem‚ the son is remembering a time when his father‚ who was excessively drunk at the time‚ carrying him through the kitchen off to bed. It was a rough‚ almost abusive‚ journey though because his father‚ who is already drunkenly waltzing him‚ is probably not used to handling things with care at work since his hands are described as "caked hard by
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Roethke was a German immigrant who was an American poet which characterized its imagination. Most of his poems were inspired by the image of his childhood like "My Papa’s Waltz". This poem at first reading creates an image of an abusive father who comes home and beats his son. But it is a complete opposite expression. The poem "My Papa’s Waltz" is positively and related to the son’s memories which are still fresh with all the details after he is grown. It is about the relationship between a father
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parent-child relationship and is utterly unjustifiable. Every person has a father and has their own reflections of the personal feelings they have encountered‚ nevertheless these feelings can be those of affection or feelings of resentment. The poem‚ “My Papa’s Waltz” (Roethke) illustrates a son’s reminiscence of waltzing with his father as a young boy‚ painting a picture of love and admiration towards his father. However‚ because the poet seems isolated‚ a reader’s perception can vary throughout the poem
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reading “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke‚ one might infer a violent commotion between a father and son. However‚ if read closely‚ a reader will notice that the boy hung onto his father throughout the entirety of the waltz despite becoming “dizzy” (line 2)‚ and “scrapped” (line 12). In fact‚ in this poem‚ the narrator is reflecting upon a joyful memory he had with his father. Firstly‚ if a person were to dissect the title of the poem‚ “My Papa’s Waltz‚” they would discover that “Papa” is a term
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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
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The poem My Papa’s Waltz describes a child’s nostalgia towards his conflicted relationship with his father. In this poem the tone of the speaker is characterized by the deep devotion and love he felt towards his father during his youth. Looking back on the time his father spent playing with him when he was a child‚ the speaker describes “[hanging] on like death” and “clinging to [his] shirt” (Roethke 3‚16). These childlike descriptions show that the speaker felt a deep devotion to his father and
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by Robert Hayden and My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke are two very similar works of literature. Both poems deal with the narrator looking back on the lives of their fathers and recalling certain events from the past. Those Winter Sundays deals with the narrator looking back on how her father sacrificed everything for the family and was never fully appreciated. My Papa’s Waltz deals with the narrator looking back at a time where he played joyfully with his father. The poem My Papa’s Waltz by
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