I Hate How Much I Love You -My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke Explication Essay Theodore Roethke's ambiguous poem "My Papa’s Waltz" is filled with an interesting background that is directed toward the speaker and his father. This particular free verse is unique because it offers numerous situations that the child was put in with his father, more distinctly, the love toward the father. The incentive of this poetry displays how powerful the bond of loved ones can be; this is evident when the flaws of the father was overlooked and the speaker was still “clinging” onto his shirt. Upon reading the first stanza, it was obvious that the speaker realized that his father was drunk. However, in the mist of it all, he still cared and loved his father.
Saying that the boy hung on "like" death is an example of a simile. Line 4 Such waltzing was not easy. This line wraps up the first stanza. In what could be a happy moment, father and son dancing, we see that it's kind of tricky for the son to hold on to his drunken father. Also, if the waltz of this poem is a metaphor for their father-son relationship, this could show that it's not easy to dance between loving and fearing his father's power Lines 5-6 We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; This is not a quiet, stately waltz, but a romp!
Now this is the side of the story that I see, and the theme for this said would be the importance of family. This could be the theme for this subject because in the poem the boy seems to truly enjoy the horse play with his father, as it says in the poem “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16), which shows he wants to keep playing and not go to bed. The other theme/subject is a little darker, where it seems that a drunken father comes home late one night to beat on his son. The theme for this subject is simple, “Abuse”, as this shows a young boy being beat. An example of this in the poem is when it says, “The hand that held my wrist / Was battered on one knuckle” (9-10), which shows the boy is being beat.
It is also important to note that the father had been drinking. It is quite possible that the boy held on for his own protection, seeing as his father could drunkenly drop him at any time. The boy obviously trusts the father to hold him either way. As I continued through the poem I got the message that the mother probably wasn’t as outgoing as the father. According to line 8, she seemed displeased with the father’s frivolous behaviors with their son in the kitchen.
In the beginning of the story, Brother recounts the day Doodle was born, saying that he was a disappointment as soon as he entered the world. The narrator was not satisfied with his brother, which resulted in the horrible things he thought about him. Brother said that “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable…” As a result, the narrator enjoyed torturing Doodle, threatening to abandon him multiple times. He even took Doodle to see the casket that was built for him, and forced him to touch it. The narrator basked in the control he had over his brother.
When he thinks of the hyperactive grandfather he sees his own father jubiously playing with his two sons as opposed to the youthful old man by the fire in the other version. Lastly he turns to the old gentleman next to him drinking alone in silence. These are the stages of man he thinks but one question is raised after he thinks of the seven which is he on that note the video fades to
“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.
A Waltz to Remember In many different poems throughout time various readers have been coming up with different meanings. One poem that shows that is a great example of just that is “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke. By simply reading the poem through some of the language Roethke uses could lead the reader to believe that the poem is about abuse. “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). But though alcohol can cause one to be angry and abusive, it is also know to make you dance and sing.
Brittney Lindsey Professor Howard English 102 29 Mar 2013 Journal 1 In The poem “My Papa Waltz”, the relationship between the speaker and his father is an abnormal relationship, his father is engaging his child in his drunken activities .Before the child drifts of to sleep, he gets the opportunity to dance with his father .The Father is so drunk that the alcohol on his breath second handily intoxicates his son and makes him dizzy along with the fast paced dancing. Even though this dancing is an annoyance to his mother, and the child is well aware of this. The son continues to hold on to his drunken father in comfort no matter what the circumstances are. I feel like the son is gaining comfort from his father because, he may not receive any attention at all from his father when he is sober and this is his only opportunity to bond with his father even though he is intoxicated with alcohol. In “The Secretary’s Chant” The speaker turns herself into a machine in comparison to the objects that surround her in her everyday scene as a secretary.
“My Papa’s Waltz” The vagueness of “My Papa’s Waltz” makes it difficult to be certain what it is about. Some might argue that the poem is a tale of child abuse, but it is more likely telling the story of a father and son’s horseplay. “The whiskey on your breathe could make a small boy dizzy.” This line doesn’t refer to the father as being stumbling drunk. Many people have an evening drink without getting drunk. “But I hung on you like death.” The boy holds on like his life depends on it because he is having so much fun, not because he is terrified as it may seem.