My Papa’s Waltz Theodore Roethke, an eighteenth-century poet who had a way of showing and teaching future generations of American poets to pursue the mysteries of one’s inner self. Roethke, however, had a very hard life. He grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. His father was a German immigrant, who owned and ran his own greenhouse. Roethke loved to read and write in his high school days. When Roethke turned fourteen years old his father passed away with cancer and his uncle that we don’t hear about as
“My Papa’s Waltz” is the illusive narrative of Theodore Roethke’s speaker’s childhood. The speaker is a boy who deeply loves his father despite him being a drunk. Even though his father could be rough at times, this boy’s childhood memories are well treasured in his heart and mind. Roethke sets the tone to the ‘waltz’ by utilizing situations, descriptions, and unique characteristics throughout his character’s childhood associated to his father. Roethke allows the reader to experience situations throughout
“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is about a son who still loves his father, even through his dad’s alcoholism and abuse. The author uses slant rhyme to demonstrate that something is amiss in what could easily be interpreted as just a poem about a loving father-son relationship. The father’s alcoholism is evident from the beginning of the poem, in the lines “The whiskey on your breath/Could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). This shows that during their “waltz”, the father is drunk enough that just
"My Papa's Waltz" Annotated Bibliography Bogen, Don. "'Intuition' And 'Craftsmanship': Theodore Roethke At Work." Papers On Language & Literature 18.1 (1982): 58. Literary Reference Center. Web. 3 Apr. 2016. This article is a poetry review by Don Bogen. Bogen discusses the work of Theodore Roethke, with focus given to his poet composition process. He analyses' Roethke's writing process. Also, his composition of the poem, "Where Knock Is Open Wide" is spoken about. And his use of symbolism. Janssen
response is unique. I believe that someone’s response to a poem depends on his or her background. “My Papa’s Waltz” and “The Past” were two poems that truly related to me. By the title of, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, I thought that it would be about the ballroom dance. As I continued to read the poem, I felt fear from the speaker’s words. While reading “The Past” by Ha Jin, it made me think of my own past and how there are times where I would like for it to stop following me like a shadow.
“Daddy” and “My Papa’s Waltz” are poems written about the author’s father. In the year 1948, Theodore Roethke wrote “My Papa’s Waltz,” a short poem about dancing, as a small boy, dancing with his father before bedtime. However, the title to this poem is completely ironic because they do not waltz, but it is more of a rough dance. “Daddy” was written by Sylvia Plath in the year 1966; Plath’s father died when she was a small child and her poem expresses her rage against him, but also against all males
In his lifetime, Theodore Roethke was known as a college professor and a Pulitzer Prize winner (Dorset 2005) for his various forms of work. Although he admired many forms of works himself from various poets, it his poetry that was considered to “speak eloquently to a wide audience” (McKenna 1998). Roethke wrote about the reality of how life was around him and also how his poetry was also the reflection of himself. One of these poems that defined the definitions of what was reality was for him is
In Walter McDonald’s “Life with Father” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” the poets give insight into a dysfunctional childhood surrounded by alcoholism, which leaves a lasting impression on the children. The poets use dissimilar figurative language and expressive sound devices to evoke contrasting fearful tones; McDonald fears his father and Roethke fears losing his. The extensive and diverse use of figurative language in McDonald and Roethke’s poems captures the essence of growing up with
Spence 1 I read the two poems “My Papa's Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” They are both emotional poem's where Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden speak of their father. These men talk about the feelings they have toward their father's. It describes the relationship a son has with their father. These poem's are not the greatest tribute of their father but a memory that was important in their childhood. The poem “My Papa's Waltz” by. Theodore Roethke is a short story of a son that speaks
interpret the meaning accurately. Images also helps to convey the idea of what's happening in the poem. “My Papa's Waltz” by Theodore Roethke sentence says “But I hung on like death” shows an idea of a little boy holding on tightly, not really dieing, getting the point across. Imagery also helps give a sense of feel to the reader of what's going on. “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke line “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf” allows the reader to feel the pans making noise