My Papa's Waltz

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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 depressing and mental illness. Around that time, “Roethke’s writing often referred back to his childhood and, as we see in this poem, his father”. (Shmoop Edi…) Even though many say that he was afraid of his father, Roethke expressed a deep sense of love for his father in his poems. …show more content…
Touching a pone the surface of the poem, one would be able to picture an abusive story. If a person examines the poem thoroughly they can then have reasons to say that the poem is a happy poem. One thing that is sure would be the father’s drunkenness which is clearly stated in the first line, “The whiskey on your breath- Could make a small boy dizzy”. (Line 1 and 2) It is said that the first impression can be seen dark due to the known perception of Roethke’s work. Also “From the child’s perspective, the “waltz” has been something to endure, not to enjoy”. (My

My Papa's Waltz

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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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