Comparing Eating Alone, My Papa's Waltz, And Incidents

In the poems Eating Alone, My Papa’s Waltz, and Incidents show themes of neglect, loneliness, and life not only that but they also have a meaning to why the authors used these themes. The narrators in these poems feel some sort of neglect in life and wonder why this is happening to them. Cullen, Lee, and Roethke as artists reflect the current events surrounding them in their art and how the past influences the present and may predict the future. Out of their loneliness and isolation they discovered art and used that as a way to write their poems. Countee Cullen, the author of the poem “Incident” had a rough childhood. He lost both of his parents and brother before his teens. After they died he was raised by his paternal grandmother who later

So as a child Roethke had a sense of abandonment and loss, his lack of self-esteem made him want to be known and accepted by his peers. He was socially isolated due to the fact that his father was a German immigrant and World War 2 had just ended so a lot criticism was happening to Roethke and his family. He had some pretty tough teen years. This is because his father had lost the battle with cancer and his uncle committed suicide. This must have been extremely tragic for someone in their teens. Once he left for college he changed hil whole look. He gained some weight and became fascinated with gangsters and other type of things. His childhood, the hardships he had to face, and the depression all led him to write his poems. In “My Papa’s Waltz” Roethke’s phase of gangsters and violence is seen in many different lines. On lines 9, 10, and 13 it says “that hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle… you beat on my head.” These lines show how huge signs of abuse and can be seen as a gangster or the things that have happened in his life at that time. The neglect he received as a child and teenager led him to write some of his impressive work and some of the greatest poems in the world. This neglect was a great thing because it made be able to write about his life and that eventually made him successful. This success is seen as the themed of life in many of his other