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My papa Waltz Those winter sun

             In Theodore Roethke's " My Papa's Waltz" poem reader finds formulation and specific words that are clear to understand. The poem has four quatrains in which author describes a relationship between a young boy and his father. Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays" is shorter but have a similar subject. The adult narrator presents happy memories about past when his father was alive. Both poems are very short and the interpretation the meaning depends on reader's perspective.
             The two pomes have some similarities and differences in the overall tone, attidutes towards their father and specic meaning.
             The tone of the first poem "My Papa's Waltz" is full of humorus warm fillings at the beginning. The boy dancing with his father who spins him around making a mass in the kitchen which "make a small boy dizzy;" On the other hand reader can confuse dance with real meaning which is the beating of the child. The poet tried to describe drunken father in words "The whisky on your breath". The brutal existence is contrasted with love and warm memories. The reader is missleaded by the title expecting to find a poem about loving father. Instead his father "Papa" is drunk and his hands are "caked hard by dirt". In words "But I hang on" narrator tries to explain that he still loves his father. The poet defends his father and describes beating as a waltz. In poem "Those Winter Sundays" has romanticism, which evokes tone of nostalgia for a childhood. The poem is so moving and it has a great meaning packed in few words. The father is hardworking man "with cracked hands that ached from labor". Word choice is very realitic which give more universal meaning to the poem. However, romantic tone was contrasted with desire and loss. Narrator realized that he never expressed love to his father "No one ever thanked him.".
             Theodore Roethke's poem " My Papa's Waltz" attitude toward a father was very strong and emotional.


Essays Related to My papa Waltz Those winter sun

1. My Papa's Waltz" vs. "Those Winter Sundays

"My Papa's Waltz" vs. "Those Winter Sundays" The poem "My Papa's Waltz," by Theodore Roethke describes the scene of dance between a father and his son. ... The tone of "My Papa's Waltz" differs from the tone in "Those Winter Sundays". ... "My Papa's Waltz" has image of excitement and enjoyment. ... In "My Papa's Waltz," the narrator remembers the pleasurable moment between the father and son. ...

  • Word Count: 614
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

2. My Papa's Waltz, Those Winter Sundays, And Legacies

The following poems, "My Papa's Waltz," "Those Winter Sundays," and "Legacies," attempt to touch on the issue of "connection". In "My Papa's Waltz" and "Those Winter Sundays," the narrators reflect back on the memories of their boyhood relationship with their father. ... "My Papa's Waltz," by Theodore Roethke, shows a connection between a father and son during a rambunctious dance scene. ... "My Papa's Waltz" is not only the tale of a child's romp around the house, but is also a representation of the young boy's entire relationship with his addicted father. .....

  • Word Count: 1525
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Those Winter Sundays

Response Paper Both Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" and Theodore Roenke's "My Papa's Waltz", exists the theme of family camaraderie in a parent-child context. ... In "My Papa's Waltz by Robert Hayden, the speaker of the poem is a young boy who is reminiscing on the times spent with his father. ... You beat time on my head." ... This also shows that this particular family isn't economically adapted therefore the father is required to have such a job that makes him tired at night ("whiskey on your breathe") and physically challenged; ("battered knuckle"...

  • Word Count: 464
  • Approx Pages: 2

4. My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke

Professor Emeritus John McKenna has a critical essay of Theodore Roethke's poem, "My Papa's Waltz", which he analyzes and points out the different ways that people read the poem. According to McKenna, "My Papa's Waltz" is not a complex or long poem, but it has "intriguing ambiguity that elicits starling different interpretations" (1). ... In the poem, "My Papa's Waltz," Roethke shows a picture of a playful moment between a son and his father: We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Cou...

  • Word Count: 612
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. My Papa's Waltz And Do Not Go Genle Into That Good Night

"My Papa's Waltz" i. ... "My Papa's Waltz" i. ... "My Papa's Waltz," by Roethke, is narrated by the child of the subject. ... His voice remains scared, being ensnared by his papa's waltz. ... In "My Papa's Waltz," Roethke permits the speaker to use many images to show his father's inebriated waltz, his mother's unhappiness, and his father's hard domineer. ...

  • Word Count: 829
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

6. My Papa

The title of the poem is "My Papa's Waltz". ... In the poem "My Papa's Waltz", the vocabulary is easy to understand, as it is written from a child's point of view. ... In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" the tone is not available. ... Line 9 - "The hand that held my wrist". ... The poem "My Papa's Waltz" shows how a child is abused when the father is drunk. ...

  • Word Count: 257
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Memories of Papa

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke, one man recalls some of his childhood memories. ... Papa was a working man whose hand: "Was battered on one knuckle" (10). Every step papa missed this boy's right ear got scraped by a buckle on his papa's belt. ... "a palm caked hard by dirt" (14), tells that papa was a middle class working man, he worked somewhere where his hands were in dirt. In the last two lines of the poem you can feel that this little boy was emotionally attached to his Papa. ...

  • Word Count: 451
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. My Papa's Waltz - Perception and Reality

Theodore Roethke "My Papa's Waltz" can be used as an example of this theory. ... The poem "My Papa's Waltz" has a double meaning it is either a waltz between a father and son, thus bringing them closer together, or on the darker side it is a fight between a drunken father and his son where the intimacy of the dance is overshadowed by the anger the reader feels from his her past. ... One question is if it really necessary for his papa to beat time on his head as he can already see he is struggling? ... His very first work in which he uses dance as this metaphor is...

  • Word Count: 1627
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

9. My Papa's Waltz

"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is a poem overstuffed with many mixed interpretations. ... Although there are many different ways to interpret "My Papa's Waltz", there are various lines in each stanza to indicate there is an incident of abuse. ... In line four, stanza one; the boy refers to his situation of abuse as a "waltz". Waltzing is a dance that is thought of to be intimate. ... In the first line of stanza three the boy talks about, "The hand that held my wrist"(9). ...

  • Word Count: 626
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

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