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 Theodore Roethke
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In the poem‚ “My Papa’s Waltz”‚ Theodore Roethke uses many connotations and detail that could be understood as positive or negative‚ but in my eyes‚ the word choice and intense details seem indicate a more sullen tone and a more abusive behavior towards the speaker. This poem is about a father and a son “waltzing” in their kitchen with their mother watching. Roethke does use a few words such as clinging and romped that could indicate a playful dance and a child clinging to their loving father not
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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. Theodore Roethke portrays the father figure
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The memory described in "My Papa’s Waltz" is mostly positive. The poem is about a specific type of dance‚ which is established thrice: by the title as well as lines 4 and 15. The father waltzed with his child at bedtime‚ a spirited attempt to bring elegance into a humble home. Waltzing is often associated with royalty‚ emperors dancing in palaces to the music of Johann Strauss II‚ good living! The verb "romped" in the second stanza is strong evidence that this was a playful activity for both father
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My Papa’s Waltz was a interesting poem. There are several different meanings it could have. For instance‚ before I looked into the poem I thought it was about a father abusing his child‚ But after I read and studied it I realized what it was about. It took me a few times of reading it to understand that it was actually talking about a little boy that didn’t want to go to bed so his father danced with him. Before annotating it I thought it was talking about a little boy that maybe didn’t want to
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Ambiguity in “My Papa’s Waltz” For most of time‚ people regard understanding a poem as a difficult process‚ and people wonder the reason the author of the literature leaves more questions than the ones he actually answers. Poets use ambiguity to add meaning and depth into their works so that their works can be interpreted in various ways. On one hand‚ the poem can be interpreted to have a positive view. On the other hand‚ the poem can be regard to be negative as well. In Theodore Roethke’s
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Upon reading Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” one would think the poem entirely talks about the dance and how it was special and memorable to the speaker just by the title. However‚ this ‘waltz’ is interpreted many different ways in the poem. The poem starts off describing the speaker’s presumed father’s smell of “whiskey on your breath” to show that he was drinking heavily (Roethke 1). This smell can also be described as quite strong because of the fact that it “could make a small boy dizzy” (2). This
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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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Personal Narrative In my life‚ I have met certain people who have changed me for the better and have helped shape me into who I am today. A lot of those people have left but one that has always stood by my side and sticks out in my mind is my favorite person in the whole world‚ who happens to be my Papa. He has been there for me since day one‚ literally. He was the second person to hold me as in infant‚ after my mother. People like him don’t come around everyday. He is the most genuine person you
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Crowley The poem‚ “My Papa’s Waltz‚” by Theodore Roethke‚ is about the ongoing issue of a father physically abusing his young son. There are many specific details throughout the poem that support this idea. The father in this poem is a violent alcoholic. It is a common and ongoing problem in this particular household. Finally‚ I believe that both the mother and child disapprove of the father’s actions‚ but don’t dare to take action against him. This poem shows the reader what happens on a typical
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