Even if it meant that he may get hurt which was shown in the poem when he talked about being “battered” (10) and “scraped” (12). The evidence that really made me feel as though this boy loved his father though was when I listened to Roethke actually read the poem aloud. In the recording of “My Papa’s Waltz”, Roethke makes me feel as though he is sad, and that although the memory remains of his loving fun time with his father the time is gone and can never be regained again (Roethke, reads). This can also be seen in the verses “Then waltzed me off to bed/Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). It makes me feel as though he was having such a wonderful time
Critical Analysis: My Papa’s Waltz My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke is a uniquely happy poem showing a glimpse of a young boys childhood. The speaker reminisces about his “waltzing” with his father as a child. At the beginning of the poem we get a brief understanding of their waltz because this is not a simple task for the child. As the poem progresses we begin to imagine this is a nightly routine for the small child to help get him to sleep. The Father could be mistaken as a drunk or abusive, Due to lines such as “ The Whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy.” (1-2) But is later affirmed to be the opposite with the young boy telling us “I hung on like death.” (3) Allowing us to know he doesn’t in fact want to let go.
“Could make a boy dizzy” (Clugston, My Papa’s Waltz, para. 1) was the next line that captivated the strength of the smell of whiskey the boy was experiencing. This line makes readers sense the over indulgence the father had of whiskey (Fong, 1990). Roethke wrote, “the hand that held my wrist” (Clugston, My Papa’s Waltz, para. 3) and I remembered my grandfather holding my hand as we walked across the yard to the barn.
The 'small boy'(Booth line 2) is talking directly to his father. This, in the positive readers eyes, evokes a feeling of intimacy between the two characters. In the mean time, the fathers breath making the boy dizzy gives ammo to the readers who believe the poem is about domestic abuse. For them, this line indicates that the father was not drinking socially, but drinking oppressively to the point of abusing the whiskey. The readers that see no abuse in the poem retaliate that the boy becoming dizzy is a realistic description of the two figures being close physically, and dancing around in circles as they attempt to
“The Peace of Wild Things” is a poem written by American poet Wendell Berry. I feel Wendell Berry uses a unique approach of words to express the feelings and emotions in “The Peace of Wild Things”. I believe the speaker is a father who is stressing over life’s challenges to support and provide for his family. The poem expresses what the father is feeling as he awakes in the middle of the night and what he does to release his stress. Works
It becomes clear in the story that Lennie has a mild mental disability, and is deeply devoted to George and is dependent upon him for protection and guidance. They both share a dream of one day buying their own piece of land, farming it, and, much to Lennie’s delight, keeping rabbits. The next day the two show up together at the nearby ranch and George insists that he does all of the talking. He lies, and begins to explain that they are cousins and that the reason they travel together. He tells him that a horse kicked Lennie in the head when he was a child and he hires them.
A poem with short or few stanzas leaves “a lot of white space” on the page, Roethke wrote, but that forces “those lines to stand up by themselves” (Kizer 6). The first line, “The whiskey on your breath,” would imply the father was an alcoholic. In my point of view, the imagery, language and symbolism used, point to the love between the father and son. In line 3, “but I hung on like death”, I believe the boy is holding on not because of fear but because he didn’t want to fall off while dancing with his father. I believe this boy looked forward to his father coming home from work; it was the highlight of his day.
Similes a. “But I hung on like death.” This line indicates that even though the whiskey is making him a bit dizzy, he still clings to his father, just like death clings to everyone. Krista Fleming Mr. Morgan English 102-011 11 November 2014 My Papa’s Waltz Most of the time, a theme in a poem or story is not explained straight forced. Many poetic devices and literary elements are used to describe the themes, moods, and other components of a poem or story. Most authors use things like metaphors, similes, and imagery.
Paul relentlessly rode his rocking horse until the name of the winner came to him. Paul collected his winnings off the race, which was quite substantial. On this night, Paul died unexpectedly in his bedroom. Luck was in Paul’s favor throughout the story, but greed would only destroy it. They should have appreciated and recognized what they already
By the end of the evening, Lily calms down, the family works everything out and they move on. This scenario differs in insurmountable ways to the gathering Alexie describes in “Every Little Hurricane”. We begin with Victor retelling describing a fight between his two uncles, Adolph and Arnold. This is such a common occurrence that Victor has justified their behavior in his mind as love. Alexie writes, “He could see his uncles slugging each other with such force that they had to be in love.