Preview

Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
439 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz
The memory described in "My Papa's Waltz" is mostly positive.

The poem is about a specific type of dance, which is established thrice: by the title as well as lines 4 and 15. The father waltzed with his child at bedtime, a spirited attempt to bring elegance into a humble home. Waltzing is often associated with royalty, emperors dancing in palaces to the music of Johann Strauss II, good living! The verb "romped" in the second stanza is strong evidence that this was a playful activity for both father and son, a bonding experience ("boy" in the opening stanza suggests this speaker is male, but gender isn't important).

The father is not a great dancer. He had been drinking, which probably affects his coordination. With each misstep the young one's ear comes in contact with a belt buckle at the man's waist. But gracefulness does not matter here--the father earns gratitude for being loose, goofy, and carefree. The child is delighted by this roughhouse activity and is even "clinging" in the last line, unwilling to let go. The father's waltzing is like a carnival ride, requiring the young one to hold on "like death." This may be the highpoint of the child's day. …show more content…
The hand "caked hard by dirt" suggests he does taxing physical labor. He did not wash upon arriving home (though he found time to drink whiskey), possibly so happy seeing his child that he started dancing--washing can be done later. The hand battered by a tool or machine during the day now teaches 3/4 time exuberantly to an appreciative student, "3/4 time" being a musical term meaning three beats to a measure--"you beat time on my head." Child and father enjoy spending at least some time
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    HANSEN Assignment 2 My Papa S Waltz Final Draft
    • 1060 Words
    • 3 Pages

    HANSEN Assignment 2 My Papa S Waltz Final Draft

    Now, if the reader portrays this in a negative fashion it can be interpreted as a drunken father coming home, reeking of whiskey, while the child tries as hard as he can to get through this current beating, or dance as he calls it. However, if the reader sees this in a more positive light, one can almost see the small boy standing on his feet, holding on so he won’t fall, dancing around with his drunken father. Naturally, it would not be easy to maintain your balance while standing on the feet of another person.…

    • 1060 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Summary Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    Everyone grows up, leaving their childhood and their old life behind. When this happens, they will often look back on those happy times fondly, remembering how easy and nice it all was. In Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, the speaker does just this. Nostalgically, he reflects upon a time when his father would waltz him around the house before taking him off to bed. Waltzing carelessly around the kitchen, clutching tightly to his inebriated, carefree father, knocking pans and pots down off the shelves, this is one of the prominent memories that the speaker has of his father. The poem reminisces on these times with his father, missing the time that they could dance together. The speaker’s father had his flaws, he had a job and wasn’t home as much, he…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tone Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tone Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    In “My Papa’s Waltz’ by Theodore Roethke, the speaker’s tone towards his father is one that is loving and admiring. This is seen in the word choice of the speaker when interacting with his father.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Synthesis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Synthesis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    Triggering each person to receive the poem in a different way. (Fong page 80-81) Some saw it as being joyful with the son and father dancing and some saw it as the father being abusive with his son. Which can be assumed by the words used starting with “whiskey on your breath” implying that the father was drunk. In a book written by Jim Baird he talks about the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”. He talks about how the poem was about the way his father shows his love to his son and how the son feared the actions done by his father. (Baird) Baird goes ahead and talks about how the fear that the son had while doing the waltz was caused by the son having to hold on so tight that he would not fall. Since the dance is so intense it comes off as being abusive. Which does not mean that the father was abusive his way of showing his affection for the boy was shown after a long day of hard work leaving…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    "Inside is where the son and father will always be holding hands"(Adam Johnson). All children one way or another have a special bond between them and their father. But, a father and son form an unbreakable bond. It's natural for a father to groom his son and teach him things he himself faced when he was once young. The poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke entails a memory of a small boy and father perceived to be having a good time and having a good time and dancing despite the father being drunk. “My Papa’s Waltz” is a positive childhood experience because the drunk father made time for his son, the father worked hard to provide for his family and the small boy loved his father unconditionally.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee
    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis Of 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee

    In the beginning of the poem, the son refers to the father as “Baba” which shows the affectionate and innocent side of the boy when he is little. The boy is pleading with his dad to tell him a story, yet the roles are reversed later when the father is begging for the son to allow him to tell a story to him. This ironic switch of roles shows the complex relationship as the father is not in the position of authority that he should be in to begin with. The father is supposed to be the leader and role model for the son, and the father is worried about things changing in the future. He sees the point where the son is a grown man and is no longer in need of his father for everything. When the son becomes a man, he will no longer have the same innocent and affectionate characteristics he has now, and he will rely on his father in a different way. However, again the father is failing the son in his present need for a story therefore setting the precedent that the father will not fulfill the needs of the son and that he is not reliable because he cannot live in the moment. Relationships in themselves are complex as they grow and change overtime, but the father is unable to enjoy the different stages of his relationship with his son because he is constantly worried about the…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Story By Li-Young Lee
    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A Story By Li-Young Lee

    The speaker depicting the boy waiting “in his [father’s] lap” contributes to the audience’s understanding of the closeness between the two. The father’s list of stories he offers his son illustrates how the pair have been sharing narratives times before. The son…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Papa's Waltz Poem Analysis
    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages

    My Papa's Waltz Poem Analysis

    The tone and subject create a major impact to the overall theme of the poem, creating a strong emotional connection to the boy's experience. It is evident from the author’s use of the title, “My Papa’s Waltz.” Its transparency sets up the readers’ expectation before we even read the first line. This allows the author to focus on the lyrical form and wordplay of the poem eliminating the need to explain the situation any further. A waltz is a ballroom dance that comes with a rhythmic beat of three which mimics the prevailing iambic trimeter of the poem. Furthermore, the alternating rhymes in the poem metaphorically tie in with the constant swaying back and forth found in waltz dancing. The waltzing in the poem signifies an extended metaphor for the father-son relationship, therefore, is also symbolic and ultimately ties in organically to the sensitive and delicate significance of this…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages

    My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    In Theodore Roethke’s poem, My Papa’s Waltz, there seems to be a bit of controversy about what actions are taking place within it. From the title, it appears that the father and child were dancing, seeing as a waltz is a type of dance. But this is no dance. While waltzing, one person leads while the other follows. The father is the leader in this situation, showing dominance over his child. This “waltz” is simply something that the father does often. The narrator is the child. The vague and patchy description of the actions taking place would indicate that this is but a memory the narrator is trying to recall about his childhood. The poem, when read over quickly and lazily, may appear to be about this dance,…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Feliks Skrzynecki
    • 736 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Feliks Skrzynecki

    The first verse of the third stanza - ‘His Polish friends -’ again shows a sense of ownership and belonging by the use of possessive pro noun. It also states a cultural reference and shows how the son feels as if he doesn’t belong. ‘Talking, they reminisced…’ this line reflects how this group of men hold a shared past and highlights the sense of ‘brotherhood’. All of this ‘Did not dull the softness of his blue eyes’, which again signifies the love and admiration the son possesses for his father. Mild and subtle expression is used to symbolise his character through the depiction of his son. Even when…

    • 736 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Papa's Waltz Analysis
    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Papa's Waltz Analysis

    In “My Papa’s Waltz”, American poet Theodore Roethke transforms the horrid experience of a child being beaten by his father into the romantic and beautiful dance of a waltz. Written in trecet iambs to imitate the relaxing beat of the waltz, the poet installs some sense of pleasure in the reader. In doing so, Roethke makes the subject of a beating more readable and lessening the effect of the drunkenness makes the speaker’s father more forgivable. The lucidity of diction and imagery throughout Roethke’s poem distracts from the underlying dark metaphor of a son being beaten by his drunk father to a graceful waltz.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Descriptive Essay: Obeying The Piped
    • 1722 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Descriptive Essay: Obeying The Piped

    She tried reaching into the depths of her memory for the steps to the waltz. As they began to dance, she realized it wasn’t necessary. They moved together in fluid motion across the ballroom. Their steps were in sync with each other and the other couples as they circled the room. It had her curiosity aroused as she had never mastered the dance during her long ago class.…

    • 1722 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Papas Waltz Analysis
    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Papas Waltz Analysis

    This gives the audience an idea of the intensity that the little boy is experiencing. Roethke the moves to the third stanza were he incorporates a metaphor “At every step you missed” meaning because of the fathers bad habits he missed parts of his sons life that were important to the son. The author whether he meant to generalize the sons age or not, he gives us a clue of this when he says” My right ear scraped a buckle “. You should notice that Roethke uses the syllable “a” instead of “his” this points out the boys love for his father, and his attitude that his dad could do no wrong. As the author moves to produce the forth stanza he emphasizes the fact that his dad did work hard with imagery “With a palm caked hard by dirt”. Roethke then moves to create an assonance effect by rhyming “hard by dirt “and “to your shirt”. The author then ends with capitalizing on that perfect parent attitude, “Still clinging to your shirt “. This could also be a son wishing for the return of his father. The lucidity and cheerfulness of the rhythm succeed to some extent in hiding the pathos and resentment in the poem. It also exhibits cause and effect because of dad’s alcoholism, the boy’s life was harder than those with sober parents.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Child Abuse In My Papa's Waltz
    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Child Abuse In My Papa's Waltz

    The last two stanzas continue to plant the illusion that the father is abusive. Roethke draws attention to the man's hands. The one holding the boys wrist is "battered," and the other…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Papa Waltz
    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Papa Waltz

    This element is used to demonstrate how even upmost betrayal from a child’s very own parent does not deter a child’s love. Throughout the poem the father is known to be drunkenly waltzing around the house with no interference from the wife, the only acknowledgment is gotten when the pans are rattled from the shelves. The child states, “The hand that held my wrist/ Was battered on one knuckle…” (Roethke 9-10). Here it is realized that the silence of the mother is due to avoiding getting hit by her husband. Yet the hands used to batter the wife are used to lead the innocent child, symbolizing how the child waltzes with the dad with no fear of the father’s capabilities. Roethke uses symbolism to show that even though the father is abusive the child is mindlessly content following in those staggered…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics