Comparing Poems My Papa's Waltz And Those Winter Sundays

Everyone has a father, whether their relationship with him is good or bad. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word father as follows: a man in relation to his natural child or children. “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden are two poems with themes set around a father. These poems deal with accounts of the poets’ fathers as they reminisce about certain scenes from their childhood. “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” show similarities and differences in structure, literary elements, and central idea. Firstly, “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” vary in their structure. “My Papa’s Waltz” has four, four line stanzas. In addition to having sixteen lines, it also has a rhyme scheme of A-B-A-B. “My Papa’s Waltz” is also written in iambic trimeter. What is unique about “My Papa’s Waltz” is that since it is written in iambic trimeter, that means that the rhythm would be the same as a standard waltz. A standard waltz is danced in ¾ time. Ironically, when the father

“Those Winter Sundays” uses a fair amount of symbols. For example, the cold that he feels symbolizes what his father endured to make everything warm. The cold represents the hard work and love that the father has for his children. The warmth that is produced is only from the efforts of the father. “My Papa’s Waltz” also uses a handful of symbols throughout the poem. One symbol in “My Papa’s Waltz” would be the dancing in general. We can easily see that the boy is having a hard time doing that dance. “My right ear scraped a buckle” (line 12). “You beat time on my head” (line 13). Although the dance was difficult for the boy, he still hung on to his father. “But I hung on like death” (line 3). “Still clinging to your shirt” (line 16). We can infer that since the boy still hangs on to his father through a difficult task, he loves him very