Chiu Ching 3U (8) My Papa’s Waltz Questions 1. Comment on the simile in the first stanza. (3 marks) The simile used in the first stanza is “I hung on like death”(3). The next line, “Such waltzing was not easy”(4) suggests that the father and son’s boisterous, wild “romping”(5) around was difficult for the child, and he had to hang on tightly because the father was romping around drunkenly and did not hold onto him well.
In the final analysis, most readers of this poem tend to deduce a dark theme of physical violence due to its tone, word choice and imagery. Nonetherless, Roethke balances positive and negative tones of the poem to give it a rich and ambiguous quality. The exceeding tendency to paint the picture of child abuse deprives it, of this quality. “My Papa’s Waltz,” illustrates a special and powerful moment, shared between a father and a son through a waltz.
Roethke points out that the dad is a working man who drinks. He makes this evident when he says “the whiskey on your breathe” (1). Another way
In Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, the speaker seems to be an adult reminiscing his childhood through a metaphor of a dance. The poem suggests that the boy was abused and the mother stood by without doing much about it. Three topics that
The use of positive connotation in the text is utilised to illuminate the positives of the relationship, as they “romp” and “waltz” their way through a fun life. However, Roethke intentionally included those words with negative connotation to show the constant complexity and imperfect nature of their relationship. In lines 3-4, Roethke states “[b]ut I held on like death:/[s]uch waltzing was not easy,” which is the first metaphor for their relationship. In this quote from the text, as Roethke preaches the difficulty of the waltz, he is really writing about the relationship between his father and son as being “not easy.” And although their relationship is not easy as it goes through life, the boy still “hung on like death,” showing his love for his father and another positive for the relationship.
Compare and Contrast: My Papa’s Waltz and Grape Sherbet “My papa’s waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a poem about the relationship between father and son, where the son try to teach the father waltzing. “Grape Sherbet” is a poem by Rita Dove, describes his/her childhood memories of father. Both author used literary terms such as simile and alliteration from the line/quote that I pointed out. Theodore Roethke used simile to explain what was waltzing is like and Rita Dove used alliteration, the name of the recipe.
In “My Papa’s Waltz” the playful behavior of the father towards the speaker, presumably his son, is a deceptive and ambiguous front set up by poetic tone, poetic form, and poetic language; instead, the poem’s dark and unsettling nuances point to an abusive relationship. The tone the speaker conveys is reflective. The speaker recalls his time with his father “waltzing”, and remembers that “Such waltzing was not easy” (4). The speaker’s tone shifts to mournful for the child he once was, and is disappointed of his father’s foul actions once he epiphanized that he was abused as a child. The pleasant rhyme and rhythm of the iambic trimeter style poem makes it sound short, innocent, and sweet.
A Father’s Affection “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” describe a character who reflects on their childhood. Although they based on the same theme, the two poems have very different perspectives. “Those Winter Sundays” talks about how the son regrets for not showing his love for his father, when all his actions went unnoticed. “My Papa’s Waltz” reflects on a son 's memory with is father where his danced around the house after the father long day at work. Both poems reflect on how their fathers showed his love for his son, the time spent with their fathers, a maternal conflict, and their relationship with their father.
Theodore Roethke’s, “My Papa’s Waltz,” uses a great deal of imagery by using the metaphor of the word “Waltz.” A Waltz is a dance that has a step to every beat of the music, while in close proximities to the other dancer, there is not much change and it is in fact quite repetitive. Already we begin to form an image Roethke is trying to provide us by saying “My Papa’s Waltz.” His usage of the word “Papa” is quite informal compared to the word, “father.” It is only upon reading and analyzing the rest of the poem that we realize the struggle tied to the word.
Everything in life has similarities and differences as long as you're looking for them, but some have more than others. Comparing similarities and difference between two things in life is making a compare and contrast (book) . When comparing and contrasting two pieces of literature you have to observe not only the themes of them but also the plot. Fences by August Wilson and My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke have many similarities and differences throughout the literature due to themes and the plot.
The diction is also negative in this poem. When Roethke wrote such statements as, “But I hung on like death” and, “My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself”, it seems as though he is describing the negative nature of this event during his life through what he is interpreting from his mother’s and father’s actions and mood(lines 3, 6 and 7). The one part of this poem that is in a completely different tone from the rest of the
Roethke employs a metaphorical figure of speech to achieve a deeper meaning. For instance, the speaker influences the reader by putting the name of the dance in his title. Furthermore, this incorporation of vocabulary makes the reader think of it as a dance.
The overall situation unfolding between the boy and his father is positive roughhousing with no terms of abuse. When covering the topic of abuse in the poem, Dr. O'Connor said, “According to Karl Malkoff, Roethke had a deep, almost religious respect for his father.” Roethke and his father had a strong bond that was strengthened through religion. The father was a strong figure, but was a loving idol for Roethke.
Roethke uses both olfactory and visual imagery to give the reader a sense that boy’s father might be intoxicated and clumsy by stating “The whiskey on your breath/could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). The poem’s visual imagery also indicates that the boy may be in fear of getting hurt by his father’s clumsiness “but I hung on like death” (3). The poet of “My Papa's Waltz” uses several examples of imagery to describe a father and son's close bond by dancing throughout their house playfully, but because the father was drunk, the child was also scared that his father might unintentionally hurt him by his
Poetry is a piece of literature where the author shares his ideas of a subject or person. He is attempting to allow the reader an understanding of his feelings regarding this subject. Most of the time poetry can be very pleasing to the ear; however, at times it can be written in a manner that is odd. Some poetry is written in a way that the reader can “hear”, “feel”, “see” or “taste” elements in the poem. Some poems may rhyme while others may not need to in order to convey the message.
