My Papa

In Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz,” the author presents to the reader his childhood experience. In the poem, he relates his relationship with his father to a “waltz.” The author’s childhood unfolds as the “waltz” is performed. In this performance, the diction the author uses allows the reader to have many perspectives of the poem. Throughout the work, the author employs vague words to describe his upbringing. Thus, Roethke makes it difficult for the reader to establish a concrete tone of his feelings toward his childhood. As a result, the reader’s perspective of the author’s adolescence may vary depending on how the word usage and rhyme scheme is interpreted.

There are several illustrations throughout the poem that show the author’s use of ambiguous words. For example, the reader may interpret the vague word choice in an optimistic manner; thus establishing the author’s adolescence to be a positive experience. The title “My Papa’s Waltz” implies that Roethke is reminiscing of the joyous time he and his father had dancing together. In the first stanza, the young boy says, “Such waltzing was not easy,” the author implies that he is having a difficult time keeping up with his fathers dance steps (4). Later, the mother is

. . .

View the whole essay, without interruption

When the father “waltz[s] [the boy] off to bed / Still clinging to [his] shirt,” the boy views this “waltzing” episode as one of his fondest memories of his father. Which infers that they are fighting instead of dancing. Furthermore, the dancing scene becomes intense, and the boy is unable to keep up with his father and begins to trip as his “right ear scrape[s] a buckle” (12). Roethke fails to stress any certain sound patterns that would back up the content. Hence the reader may perceive that the boy and his father are having fun. Furthermore, the reader perceives the father to be aggressive when he punishes his son for “every step[he] miss[es]”(11).

Bibliography

Roethke, Theodore. When his father “beat[s] time on [his] head,” symbolizes all the hardships the boys psyche has endured throughout the unyielding “waltzes” (13). becoming upset because the boy and his father “romped until the pans/ Slid from the kitchen shelf” which causes a ruckus in her house (5-6). For instance, the word “Waltz” in the title may be viewed negatively as if it were to imply his father’s arrogance. The reader does this by simply filling in those sort of gray areas with their own childhood experiences. Therefore connecting the readers’ own experiences together with the author’s framework. The perception of the young boy and his father fighting is reinforced by the line, “The hand held my wrist”(9). The sort of rhyme that Roethke creates for this poem has a very indistinct tone.

Approximate Word count = 811
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.