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My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

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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. The words utilized in the rhyme scheme are not completely identical such as “dizzy” and …show more content…

The father being drunk is a rational assumption because of the strong stench of whiskey in his breath, which could've brought upon the abuse inflicted on the speaker. The form of the poem is deceiving proven by the poetic language. The word choice is so precise it's vexing because the interpretations of the words’ meanings are controversial. The word “romped” in “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf;” could be interpreted as two puppies roughly and energetically playing about (5-6). The word “romped” could also mean illicitly engaging in sexual misconduct which could have been a component of the abuse. “My mother's countenance / Could not unfrown itself” could mean his mother’s expression could not unfrown itself because him and his father were waltzing around; on the other hand, “countenance” translates to “support”, which could mean his mother disapproved of the probable bad behavior taking place (7-8). The literal action of the poem is waltzing, so “You beat time on my head” could mean keeping in time with the beat

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Why Does Theodore Roethke Use Ambiguous Language

119 Words | 1 Pages

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” poet Theodore Roethke uses sensory details and ambiguous language to persuade both the boy and the reader that the boy still loves his father, despite him being an alcoholic. On the third sentence of the first stanza, Roethke uses ambiguous language by stating: “But I hung on like death. Such waltzing was not easy.” Although this plainly means that the boy was holding onto his father without ease, it can be interpreted in another way; the boy still loves his father, even though it is hard to love him with his alcoholism at times, and the boy still loves his father very much. The boy is reflecting on this idea while waltzing with his

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Domestic Violence In My Papa Waltz

475 Words | 2 Pages

The poem My Papa Waltz by the title sounds like it could be sweet and loving. The poem is actually very dark in my opinion. In the poem the father is drunk, stumbling and hurting the boy. Even though they could just be having a good time, running around, and the father could also be trying to teach the boy to grow up, I believe that the poem is about a boy being abused by his father. Because he also states that the father is so drunk that his breath could get a small boy drunk.

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My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

551 Words | 3 Pages

The next two lines say, “hung on like death” and “ waltzing was not easy” this shows that the child stands by their father and it wasn’t that easy. Continuing with the second stanza the child describes more about going through this crazy life. “ We romped until the pans/ Slid from the shelf;/ My mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself”. The first two lines of the stanza say that the child and their father keep trying in life through the good and bad times.

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My Papa's Waltz Devices Analysis

563 Words | 3 Pages

A father and son romping around in the kitchen as the mother is looking. While others may view this poem as a family torn by a father's misfortunes. In line 1, the word “Whiskey” gives some characteristics of the fathers crooked ways. Continuing on, the signs of foul play and roughness with his hands, "battered on one knuckle", and "a palm caked hard by dirt".(11-14) More so, some of “Papa” few escapes most likely consist of a drink when he gets home from a rough day. Concluding, “Papa”makes his own family feel very uncomfortable around him.

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My Papa's Waltz Syntax

690 Words | 3 Pages

In stanza 3 states “But I hung on like death,” uses simile. It benefits the cause of alcohol that soon becomes tragic for the son. He’s gotten used to it that being abused, death can affect him. Additionally it touches people's ideas to illuminate the true meaning of the poem and to create a negative picture in the reader's mind that is shown by the son of an abusive father. In stanza 13 through 14, “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt.”

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My Papa's Waltz Meaning

650 Words | 3 Pages

There is a cycle of the negative actions that cause his father to get drunk, however, his father feelings has been expressed by actions not words. For example, the says “you beat time on my head” meaning the how rough the father has been hitting him (Roethke 968). The narrator makes it same to make it fit with the meter of the music to be disguised. Dancing of the music which seems to be more of a beating to the narrator that says “at every step you missed/ my right ear scraped a buckle”

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Analysis Of My Papas Waltz By Theodore Roethke

764 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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Connotation In My Papa's Waltz

902 Words | 4 Pages

Another example of this, in the last stanza, lines 15-16, is made as Roethke notes “[t]hen waltzed me off to bed/[s]till clinging to your shirt.” The last lines of the poem show the true relationship at the end of all the confusion lost in the midst of the middle of the poem. The father loves his son and waltzes him to bed and the boy, loving his father, slings to his shirt to stay with him. The poem expresses the confusion and complexity created in a relationship such as this one between father and son, but at the end, the confusion is unnecessary and what prevails is not the negatives, but instead the positive aspect of

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My Papa's Waltz Literary Devices

482 Words | 2 Pages

Childhood memories linger long after one’s parents have gone and, though the memories may become clouded, the children often vividly remember the emotions that rested in their hearts. Sometimes, these emotions are negative, causing people to develop methods for dealing with them, such as attempting to see them from a positive perspective. In “My Papa’s Waltz,” the speaker recalls a childhood memory that appears positive on the surface, but literary devices such as diction and imagery reveal the negative nature of the memory. Primarily, the context of “My Papa’s Waltz” appears chipper and playful, however, through Roethke’s use of strong diction, a reader can detect the true dismal roots of the poem.

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Compare And Contrast Sylvia Plath And My Papa's Waltz

846 Words | 4 Pages

Meanwhile, Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” the speaker implies abuse through a metaphor about dancing, where, in lines 5, 6, and 11- 13 the speaker vaguely mentions abuse, saying “We romped until the pans/ slid from the kitchen shelf”, “at every step you missed/ my right ear scraped a buckle./ you beat time on my head.” These lines imply the father is abusive, boisterously beating the child in the kitchen so much so that pans fell, without actually saying so. In both poems, the speaker experiences abuse from the father figure in their

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My Papa's Waltz And Those Winter Sundays Analysis

871 Words | 4 Pages

The father/son relationship are shown in both poems. Both are adults reflecting on their past. “My Papa’s Waltz” is about how the father would dance daily with the son. Although it was painful when he sometimes missed a step and his “right ear scraped a buckle”, this was a memorable memory for the son (Line 8). The poem has a happy tone of the sons childhood days.

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Figurative Language In My Papa's Waltz

588 Words | 3 Pages

He does this to not bombard the reader with a dark abusive poem. This can be seen by the metaphorical style of writing he has incorporated in his poem. For instance, the poet chooses a dance instead of outright saying it was an abusive encounter. Additionally, it shows the love the speaker has for the father. Instead of degrading the father he makes him more human to the reader by adding descriptive words.

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What Is The Theme Of Violence In 'My Papa's Waltz'

664 Words | 3 Pages

In the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, Theodore Roethke illustrates the complex relationship between a little boy and his father by juxtaposing images of love and violence through word choices that portray feelings of fear yet affection for his father. Roethke’s shifting tone encompasses distress and a sense admiration that suggests the complexities of violence both physically and emotionally for the undercurrents of his father and son relationship. The poem begins with a series of negative images, each of which are considered violent and undesirable in a family. For example, “The whiskey on your breath” suggests alcoholism, and “Could make a small boy dizzy” emphasizes that a boy is suffering from the effects of the alcoholic parent.

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What Is The Tone Of My Papa's Waltz

531 Words | 3 Pages

In this poem all the son sees is battered knuckles on his father with “palms caked hard by dirt.” This paints a description of an abusive father that does not love his son because if he did love his son he would not hurt him. The father is first introduced with “whiskey on his breath” (line 1) which can be inferred that he is an alcoholic and this creates a negative image that the reader can see and even smell. The son though seems to notice all this, but still seems to love his father and admire him. The waltz represents a repetitive step and in the poem the waltz is his father’s constant abuse and interrupts the sweet idealistic dance.

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My Papa's Waltz Theme

934 Words | 4 Pages

In 1948 Modern English Poet, Theodore Roethke wrote the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”. Roethke uses descriptive language of a drunk father to showcase the beaten abuse of a child. The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” was first published in 1948 in “The Lost Son & Other Poems” the poem showcases the complex interweaving of disparate emotions and moods. In the poem the father appears to be over himself like he 's a bigger ego towards his son. His drunk persona of an alcoholic, disrupting shows he 's unable to follow the steps of the dance.

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