My Papa's Waltz

Words: 1106
Pages: 5
Open Document
n his poem, My Papa’s Waltz, Theodore Roethke imaginatively twist and twirls the waltz dance into a powerful metaphor for the love between a father and his son. In the short but hard to grasp poem, Roethke writes from the son's perspective, and paints us a bittersweet portrait (perhaps self portrait) of a complicated relationship that is sometimes violent, yet very intimate and deeply loving for the son.
At first glance, “My Papa's Waltz” is just a short poem detailing the early memories of a young child and his father waltzing around the house. The father and son duo go from waltzing to romping around the house, causing pans to fall and missing steps, causing the father to slightly hurt his son. It is a waltz that is robust and uncoordinated, …show more content…
Roethke writes about his father’s battered knuckles, perhaps there is tight grip on his hand, the father is trying to physically and emotionally hold on to his dearly loved son as strong as he can. The father is hurting his son, however it is not intentional, and he holds on harder because he does not want the son to let go. Neither of them let go of the dance, and even when the father misses a step and the son’s ear is “scraped by a buckle (Roethke 12),” the son does not let go. Perhaps the son knows that his father’s mistakes may hurt him but he knows it is not intentional. Whether the father’s belt buckle scratches the son, or he “beat time” on his head with his “palm caked hard by dirt (Roethke 14)”, the son never loses affection. Throughout the poem, there is no evidence that the son is disturbed by the father’s behavior. The reader must also realize that the relationship has a cycle of abuse and forgiveness. The waltz, with it graceful turns and roundabouts is a metaphor for this abusive cycle, this waltz is not a one-time thing, it is something that happens often, probably when the father gets drunk.
My Papa’s Waltz reminds me a lot about the movie Saving Mr. Banks produced by Walt Disney Studios and starring Tom Hanks. The movie revolves around the difficult time Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) had in directing and producing his landmark movie Mary Poppins because the Mary Poppins book series author, P. L Travers was stubborn in changing anything from her original books. Walt Disney finds out how P. L Travers father was an alcoholic whose personal mistakes ruined his whole family.
Show More

Related Documents: My Papa's Waltz

My Papa's Waltz

At first many things may not seem as they appear. Most of the time, the deeper one gets into something, the better they understand what’s really going on. The short poem, ‘My Papa’s Waltz”, can have that effect. With this poem only being sixteen lines, it is incredible that Roethke could have gotten a dark side from a poem that was supposed to be heartwarming. The relationship between a father and a son can be a complex thing. After Roethke’s father died when he was only fifteen, he went through…

Words 938 - Pages 4

My Papa's Waltz Tone

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, the author recalls a dance he had with his father as a child. Throughout the work, Roethke effectively conveys tone, style, and setting. Furthermore, the author is eloquently suggestive in childhood introspection. The poetic tone in "My Daddy's Waltz" is a reflection of how the speaker feels towards his father. The speaker begins the first stanza mentioning the whiskey on his father's breath. This part is loaded with insinuations and stereotypes the audience…

Words 285 - Pages 2

My Papa's Waltz Essay

The poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, gives insight into the relationship between a young boy and his drunk father. There are reports that “an estimated 6.6 million children under 18 live in households with at least one alcoholic parent” (“Family Alcoholism Statistics”). Unfortunately, as a child is exposed to this type of behavior he or she can learn from it and continue it later in life. The poem begins with the father coming home and reeking of alcohol but the son dances and plays…

Words 829 - Pages 4

My Papa's Waltz Figurative Language

protect his or her children from harm. The author explains a horrid experience, the beating of a child by his father, which is compared to a romantic and beautiful dance – the waltz. This poem is virtuous in many ways, especially the detailed imagery that it provides throughout the poem. In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, uses imagery, diction, and figurative language to illustrate the melancholy condition between father and son in a household. The poem’s imagery is used throughout the poem…

Words 296 - Pages 2

Comparing My Papa's Waltz 'And The Portrait'

that can never break. To demonstrate complex family dynamics, the poems “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and “The Portrait” by Stanley Kunitz both utilize form, diction, and imagery. The form of “My Papa’s Waltz” exposes the tension among the subject family. Roethke exploits rhyme scheme to make the poem almost lyrical, which places emphasis on the father’s and the son’s waltz. The diction employed to describe the waltz insinuates both violence and love. Phrases and words such as “hung on like…

Words 546 - Pages 3

My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

Dance of Waltz Dance is an essential part of humanity. People from over the globe dance some type dependent on their country in culture. The beautiful aspect about dancing it show no discrimination. People from all ages, ethnicity, and background are all united in to one whenever dancing it involve.one dance in particular call the waltz is a former dance that was created back in the seventeenth century and is still being practice in modern day. Theodore Roethke author of “My papa’s waltz” is a poem…

Words 710 - Pages 3

My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

reinforce the fact that this experience is happening to a child. In his later poetry, Roethke uses nursery rhymes, jingles, and playground taunts to suggest the world of children to which he was trying to return in imagination and spirit. In “My Papa’s Waltz,” however, there is nothing to imagine, since the incident really happened—apparently more than once. Roethke wants the reader to identify with the child, not the adults in the poem, so he not only writes the poem from the viewpoint of a child…

Words 164 - Pages 1

My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

“Theodore Roethke’s Unconventional Waltz” that the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke creates a negative feeling through the subject matter and descriptions. The author states “right ear scraped a buckle” (12) creating a dark and scary image adding to the negative feeling towards the poem. In this scene the boy is describing the father taking him and his right ears getting scraped by the fathers buckle. The author describes the scene as “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle;/At…

Words 552 - Pages 3

My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” the readers find themselves in a scene of barbarity, establishing the beating of a child by his father, in which each stanza is portrayed with the alluring romantic appealing dance the waltz. As the poem is represented the emotions given in the stanzas are depicting the narrator, during the duration of time the poem was written, is not well interpreting this situation as a “bad” circumstance. Roethke incorporates the use of the waltz as an attraction a benefit…

Words 905 - Pages 4

Summary Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

The poem “My Papa’s Waltz”, is described by Theodore Roethke of how a young boy or himself was abused and beaten by his father. Within the poem Roethke describes with imagery of how it felt for a young boy or himself to be treated as a non-important human. It also explains how a drunk father becomes so intoxicated that he is unaware of his actions which are being taken out on his son. Since the father is so intoxicated he becomes unfocused of what his actions are causing him to do during the time…

Words 1002 - Pages 5