My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke illustrates an image of a father-son romp around the kitchen that is both harsh in its play and delicate in its memory. Roethke illustrates the poem’s images from his own childhood memories. Roethke uses simple words to create puzzling phrases that could be interpreted in different ways. The poem is ambiguous due to certain word choices that have baffling double meanings. Roethke’s poem paints an image of his childhood interactions with his father. Roethke paints this picture by using ambiguity within a waltz-like structure.

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers` perspective. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. Others believe that it has a hidden message of child abuse. In my point of view, the imagery and language, the symbolism, and tone in My Papas Waltz gave me the impression of the abusive relationship between the father and son, but then later realizing the positive side.

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke sparks differing opinions within the minds of many. Roethke was influenced greatly by his experiences as a young boy. For instance, his uncle and father both died when he was the age of fourteen. “My Papa’s Waltz” is written in remembrance of his father after this dreadful occurrence. The author’s use of imagery brings light to the his adoration for his father. Notably, his way of stringing together ideas reinforces the fond memories they shared. Roethke’s captivating choice of words supports his purpose to make known the love he has for this man. While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Theodore Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to bring attention to the loving relationship he had with his father.

In a literary criticism written by Bobby Fong, which addresses the opposing possibilities of abuse and horse play of this poem, is quickly snuffed out when Fong states that most students regard the poem as a happy tale of a tipsy father playing with his child. Fong then writes how the same students said some of the finest moments with their fathers were when their fathers’ were drinking, and how “This “papa” was not the man they knew, so there was some anxiety felt regarding the “stranger,” but he was what these students as children wanted more often from their fathers.” (Fong) There is a reference to this uneasiness or anxiety in Roethke’s poem in line three which says “But I hung on like death:” (Roethke). However, despite the rough housing what the boy enjoyed the most was his father’s unhinged wild side, and that he was included in it.

Poetry is made to express the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the poet. The reader can interpret the poem however they see fit. Critics are undecided about the theme of Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz." Some people believe that the poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. The more convincing interpretation is that it has a hidden message of parental abuse. Careful analysis of the keywords and each individual stanza back up this theory of child abuse by a violent and drunken father.

A big mistake readers tend to do is read a poem once and think that they have a clear understanding of what the author is trying to say. “My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem where the reader has to take his or her time to do some research and take a closer look at the true meanings within the poem. Sometimes authors use words that may sound like one thing, but could mean the complete opposite. Many authors use many literary devices such as allegories, allusions, anagrams, cacophonies, flashbacks, and euphonies to draw the audience in. This technique makes the reader want to read more and clearly understand what is going on within certain poems. Theodore Roethke the author of “My Papa’s Waltz” used many literary devices such as imagery, simile, tone, and rhyme to catch the audience attention.

In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy”, both poets (deleted material) express a subject, which is their relationship with their father’s. In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” the poet expresses his relationship with his father through waltzing which is a very formal dance. Although waltzing is supposed to be a popular ballroom type of dance in which the dancers revolve in perpetual circles, taking one step to each beat, imagery is (deleted material) used in this poem to express how the poet was “manhandled” while waltzing with his father because his father had too much to drink. On the other hand, in the poem “Daddy” the poet uses metaphors to describe her father. Plath lets out all of her anger and hatred towards

“My Papa’s Waltz” By theodore Roethke uses a cacophonous diction that creates a distinct comparison between connotation and denotation. In the first stanza; he states, “But i hung on like death.” This was towards the beginning of the poem that may give off an idea to the reader that the son’s life was in danger and as if he was being abused. The denotation of the line is that he’s just hanging on tightly to his father due to the fact that his father is woozy due to all the whiskey. Also, Roethke says, “You beat time on my head,” that builds off the idea of abuse. It makes it seem as if he’s consistently being abused by his father. He’s Just dancing with his son to the beat of the music. The diction he uses like “death” and “beat” associate

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers`perspective. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange 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.

At first glance, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is very intriguing as the poem is very ambiguous at first. Many people that read the poem at first believe it to be about child abuse, which is very easy for readers of the 21st generation to confuse as we see everything with a dark meaning behind it. The poem is about a boy who dances with his father, hence the name of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”. Once the poem has been reread several times, we can take a closer look at what Roethke is really implying in the poem. Therefore, it becomes clear to the audience that the poem has a lighter meaning and has a more positive outlook than a negative outlook to the situation occurring in the poem.

Firstly, In "My Father's Song," the tone is nostalgia, it's a perfect demonstration of emotion the speaker feels about his father. "My Papa's Waltz," poem's tone is playful and light created by the pleasant rhythm iambic, which makes the poem short and sweet. The tone is promoted through word choice, Both writers use similar word choice to strengthen the theme of admiration. In the poem, "My Papa's Waltz," gives us a both and negative feeling, he uses words such as "Still clinging to your shirt" this shows that he hangs onto his father's shirt, not wanting to let go after his father waltzing him off to bed. His descriptions of the dance give us a fun, playful feeling. Despite the fact the waltz is tough, he still loves his dad. In "My Father's song," the speaker remembers his father’s voice. The speaker describes his experience as “His voice, the slight catch, the depth from his this thin crest, the tremble of emotion in something he has just said to his son, his song” (Ortiz 3-7). The speaker remembers every detail about his father. The child misses his father and cared profoundly about him, especially more tonight “Wanting to say things, I miss my father tonight” (1-2)

When I first read My Papa’s Waltz poem I had come up with the idea of a young child that was scared and he was also being repeatedly beaten by his alcoholic father. However, when I read it again and I took my time to look up words I did not understand and paid attention in detailed I viewed it a different way. When I started reading an “Article Journal”

A child’s future is usually determined by how their parent’s raise them. Their characteristics reflect how life at home was like, if it had an impeccable effect or destroyed the child’s entire outlook on life. Usually, authors of any type of literature use their experiences in life to help inspire their writing and develop emotion to their works. Poetry is a type of literary work in which there is an intensity given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinct styles and rhythm. These distinct styles include different types of poems such as sonnets, villanelles, free verse, imagist poems, and many more. And these distinct styles are accentuated with the use of literary devices such as metaphors, similes, imagery, personification, rhyme, meter, and more. As a whole, a poem depicts emotions the author and reader’s can relate to. In the poem’s “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, and “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, we read about two different parent and child relationships. These two poems help portray the flaws and strength’s parents exhibit and how their children follow their actions and use it as a take away in their grown up lives.

My papa’s waltz is a reflection of love and emotion between a father and a son. It demonstrates the childhood experience between a father and a son. As a concept, fear doesn’t make us hate people, it makes us love them even more, especially, if they are our parents. In this poem the speaker conveys his emotions and feelings towards his father. As we first read the poem it seems that the speaker is afraid of his father. The first line of this poem “The whiskey on your breath, could make a small boy dizzy.” It seems that the father was alcoholic and the little son was afraid of him. But as we move ahead in the poem the image of the poem changes and it appears more of a dance between a father and a son. Even though the son could not bear the smell of the alcohol but he still cling on to his father and he do not want to leave him. This is the most moving para as the son was small and scared but the feeling of love overpowered the feeling of fear in these lines.

The memories made during childhood, positive or negative, are recollected during one’s lifetime. Throughout “My Papa’s Waltz,” the reader may find it difficult to underline the true tone of the poem. Although, depending on the reader’s childhood, the tone may be evident. In “My Papas Waltz,” Theodore Roethke uses the title, diction, and tone to depict a hardworking and playful father waltzing his energetic little boy off to bed.