According to the textbook, “the central details in "My Papa's Waltz" relate to the father—his breath, his irregular dancing, his battered knuckles and rough hands—there are important descriptions of the boy's responses, and the mother's too.” (Journey) Those details make the theme of the poem. The central theme to this poem is the ambiguous nature of this families’ relationship. For example: “The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy.” (1942) And, “The hand that held my wrist Was
Those words sound really negative, when in reality the son is holding on to his father, while dancing, so he would not fall to the ground. An important factor in “My Papa’s Waltz” is the father coming home wreaking of whiskey. So a person automatically would think the father went on a drunken rant. "My Papa's Waltz" is a poem presented in a form that uses specific images and language to present a happy memory that a boy has of his father, even in a situation where his father was drunk. Words such as romped and waltzing, express the enthusiasm of the event and the boy's response to it.
Both poems make use of the metaphor of dancing to reflect the weakness in victim’s ability to come forward with their abuses. Both poems use the extended metaphor of dancing to demonstrate the tendencies of every day abuse and the coping mechanisms for the children being abused. In “My Papa’s Waltz”, the boy states that “ Such waltzing was not easy”, which ironically contrasts with the happiness and fluidity of dancing, especially as a child, and especially with your parents. The audience can make assumptions that the boy is being abused when Roethke suggests in the lines “You beat time on my head” and “My right ear scraped a buckle”. Both reasonable thoughts when considering the proportions of child versus parent, also evoke thoughts of habitual abuse especially from intoxicated persons.
The theme of conflict is prevalent in these two texts, as well as another one of Dawe’s poem “Victorian Hangman tells his love” (“Hangman”). Both composers deal with these issues in quite different manners, however, both imply that a greater understanding of our life experiences can be achieved through a sense of connection. Everyone needs to
My Papa’s Waltz "My papa's waltz" is a reflection of a childhood experience involving a father. Roethke’s use of diction and details covers the narrator's comply attitudes toward his father, the boy is a little sacred about his father. In the poem "My papa's waltz" Theodore Roethke, the narrator is reflecting on a childhood experience including his father. It appears that the young boy is afraid of his father. The first line says, "the whiskey on your breath/ could make a small boy dizzy"(1-2).
Some of which include imagery, similes, hyperboles, alliteration and many more, these techniques have allowed Skynezcki to get his ideas across and at the same time connecting the poem to the idea of belonging. Moving from one place to another can place a great deal of pressure on one. Migrating can be a traumatic experience as you are now moving into a new world where you may feel alone and miss your home land this is clearly evident in the poem “Feliks Skrzynecki”. In stanza one the first line “My gentle father” sets the tone of the poem. The use of person pro noun ‘my’ in the opening phrase establishes the filial relationship.
The lines “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke can be paraphrased for better understanding and interpreting the author’s meaning for the poem. For the most part the lines in the poem are not holding mixed sentence structure. The speaker in the poem is a young boy who is describing a moment he had with his father after his father had been drinking, “the whiskey on your breath” (line 1). I also feel line 4, “such waltzing was not easy,” indicates drinking and papa being clumsy or intoxicated, not being able to keep his balance or keep time of the dance steps. The tone throughout the poem shows me a boy having a fun moment with his father.
This can be related to the stories written in War Dances with the outcome of the narrator’s relationship with his father in, “War Dances,” or the marriage between husband and wife in, “The Ballad of Paul Nonetheless,” or even the relationship between two lifetime friends in, “The Senator’s Son.” Many of the outcomes in these stories might have been totally different if they lacked this theme of coming to terms with oppositions and looking at their situations in multiple angles. Also, the author of the article writes, “The ability to see a different point of view requires that you give up ‘being right’,” which also goes back to some of the short stories in War Dances (Daley). For example, in the short story, “War Dances,” the narrator gives up the idea of being in the “right” with his father in the wrong and
My Papa’s Waltz By: Theodore Roethke My Papa’s Waltz Theodore Roethke wrote this poem to make his readers actually think about what he was trying to tell them. Some people think this poem is about a son and father dancing. While others seem to believe it is about abuse. In the first line of the poem “The whiskey on your breath” it is saying how the father has been drinking (line 1). “Could make a small boy dizzy” is telling us that the fathers breathe smells of alcohol.
Tyler Evans Margo Williams English 113 September 22, 2011 Haunting Memories in Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” Theodore Roethke’s Poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is often viewed as a loving relationship between a father and son but when viewed in context it is actually describing the atrocious memories of the relationship the son recalls with his father. Bobby Fong of College Literature states in an article, “Despite its seeming lightness, "My Papa's Waltz" is a poem of terror, all the more terrible because the boy is frightened and hurt by the father, even in play.” (78) The poem begins with an image of a helpless child and a careless, drunken father playing crudely through a house. In the first stanza Roethke states, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death such waltzing was not easy. “ (1-4). When alcohol is thought of in a situation such in relation to a father and son, there is immediately a negative vibe.