Family bonds are very important which can determine the ability for a family to get along. They can be between a mother and son, a father and son, or even a whole entire family itself. To some people anything can happen between them and their family relationship and they will get over it, but to others they may hold resentment. Throughout the poems Those Winter Sundays, My Papa’s Waltz, and The Ballad of Birmingham family bonds are tested greatly. In Those Winter Sundays the relationship being shown is between the father and son, with the way the son treats his father. My Papa’s Waltz shows the relationship between a father and son as well, but the son is being beaten by his father. In The Ballad of Birmingham the relationship shown is between …show more content…
While reading the poem the reader can imply that the father provides for his wife and son, but deals with the stress of having to work hard in a bad way. He may do what it takes to make sure his family is stable, but while doing so he is getting drunk and beating his son. For example, in lines 1 and 2, “The whisky on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy” symbolizes how much the father was drinking. He was drinking so much, the scent was too much to take. Lines 7 and 8, “My mother’s countenance, Could not unfrown itself.” This helps the reader understand the mother’s perspective on things. She is unhappy seeing what is going on which is why she is frowning. Although she never says anything it can be implied that because of the fact that the mother never speaks up just shows how scared she could be of her drunk husband. Lines 9 and 10, “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle”, with this line the reader is able to see using imagery that the father is a hard worker because as said above his knuckle was battered. The reader can also take this in a different direction by saying that his hand was battered from beating his child as well. Lastly, lines 13 and 14, “You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt” As well as the quote above this quote shows that the father was beating his child with his dirty hand from all the work the father has …show more content…
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
The most notable qualities of Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” are the tone and language of the poem which convey the nostalgia adult author feels thinking about the time spent with his father. In the title narrator’s father is affectionately referred to as “Papa” making the impression that the main character and his father are close. The use of possessive pronoun “my” contributes to the overall impression that the father holds special place in the narrator’s heart. As word “waltz” in the title implies the poem gives account of the festive occasion in which the narrator’s father takes part.
While most of us think back to memories of our childhood and our relationships with our parents, we all have what he would call defining moments in our views of motherhood or fatherhood. It is clearly evident that both Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden have much to say about the roles of fathers in their two poems as well. While the relationships with their fathers differ somewhat, both men are thinking back to a defining moment in their childhood and remembering it with a poem. "My Papa's Waltz" and "Those Winter Sundays" both give the reader a snapshot view of one defining moment in their childhood, and these moments speak about the way these children view their fathers. Told now years later, they understand even more about these moments.
The first four stanzas are a conversation between the mother and daughter. The daughter asks for permission to attend a civil rights march. The child is a unique one who believes that sacrificing something like “play[ing]” for a march that can make a difference will be worthwhile (2). However, the mother understands that the march is not a simple march, but a political movement that can turn violent. The mother refuses the child’s request, which categorizes the poem as a tragedy because it places the child in the chur...
The father in “My Papa’s Waltz” is portrayed by the narrator as one who neglects his responsibilities of ensuring safety and being a positive role model. Using many examples and implying this through writing techniques, the narrator represents the father in a way other than a loving dad. Despite the use of certain words such as “papa” and “waltz,” the overall connotation represented throughout the poem seems to concentrate more heavily on the negative aspects of the narrator’s memories. For these reasons, one can conclude that the poem aims to illuminate the immaturity and irresponsibility of the
The events of our childhood and interactions with our parents is an outline of our views as parents ourselves. Although Robert Hayden’s relationship with his father differentiates from the relationship of Theodore Roethke and his father, they are both pondering back to their childhood and expressing the events in a poem. “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those winter Sundays” provide the reader with an image of a childhood event which states how fathers are being viewed by their children. These poems reflect upon the relationship of the father and child when the child was a youth. Both Roethke and Hayden both indicate that their fathers weren’t perfect although they look back admiringly at their fathers’ actions. To most individuals, a father is a man that spends time with and takes care of them which gains him love and respect. An episode of Roethke’s childhood is illustrated in “My Papa’s Waltz”. In “My Papa’s Waltz”, the father comes home showing signs of alcohol and then begins waltzing with his son. Roethke states that the father’s hands are “battered on one knuckle”. The mother was so upset about the dancing that she did nothing other than frown. At the end of the day, the father waltzed the son to bed. “Those Winter Sundays” is based on a regular Sunday morning. The father rises early to wake his family and warm the house. To warm the house, he goes out in the cold and splits wood to start a fire. This is a poem about an older boy looking back to his childhood and regretting that “No one ever thanked him.” In Those Winter Sundays'; by Robert Hayden, the poet also relinquishes on a regular occurrence in his childhood. On Sunday mornings, just as any other morning, his father rises early and puts on his clothes in the cold darkness. He ...
Writing the poem in ballad form gave a sense of mood to each paragraph. The poem starts out with an eager little girl wanting to march for freedom. The mother explains how treacherous the march could become showing her fear for her daughters life. The mood swings back and forth until finally the mother's fear overcomes the child's desire and the child is sent to church where it will be safe. The tempo seems to pick up in the last couple of paragraphs to emphasize the mothers distraught on hearing the explosion and finding her child's shoe.
The faded voices of choir singers are muffled by a roaring explosion. The sounds from the crumbling building spread down the block. Worn-down bricks, knocked out from underneath each another. Shards of colored glass, shot into the air. Chucks of wood and rubbish litter the sidewalk. Thick smoke and fearful screams saturate the air. A mother’s worse nightmare.
There are a couple of similes the author uses in the poem to stress the helplessness she felt in childhood. In the lines, “The tears/ running down like mud” (11,12), the reader may notice the words sliding down the page in lines 12-14 like mud and tears that flowed in childhood days. The speaker compares a...
The poem explains her hardships. Reading poetry is different from reading prose because you really have to dig deeper and study harder. A poem is not always straight forward like many other writings. You have to use context clues and understand imagery, tone, and sense. Summarizing a poem becomes difficult if you do not re-read several times. I learned that figurative language and lifestyle really tells a great story. Language especially helps you understand what is going on between the lines. Overall, family is always there at the end of the day. Sometimes situations get tough, but there is always a light at the end of the
"My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is an interesting poem that begins with some complicity. The tone of the poem brings the impression of a child's unconditional love for his abusive father. The waltz is a formal, intimate dance two people close to each other do and ”Papa” is an affectionate word for father. However, there are signs of violence throughout the poem, despite what we assume about the graceful dance. These hidden messages strongly counteract our normal expectations when we think of a waltz. Some may see this poem just to be a son's cheerful memory of an evening dancing with his father, rather than the child abuse is it truly about.
The diction choice within the poem immediately gives off a negative tone about the poem. Initially the poem appears that it would be a rather nice and peaceful poem because of the title “My Papa’s Waltz” however the poem shifts to a negative tone immediately in the first stanza. The first stanza immediately has the narrator direct his words to a drunken father who is rather rowdy. Following this immediate negative tone comes the diction choice of the words “death”, “romped”, “unfrown”, “battered”, “scraped”, and “beat”. All of these word choices capture an essence of negativity and violence. Due to these words flowing through the poem the idea of violence is placed into the readers mind because of the darkness of the words. The diction then supports the imagery Roethke creates about
...s the theme of family. For example, when you truly love someone in your family, you make sure that you show them you truly love them by not only giving them a hug but also telling them that you love them. I can relate to this situation because whenever I notice that my mom is feeling down, I make sure that I tell her that I love her and she is the best mom in the world. Another theme that is present in this poem that I can relate with my life is the theme of mortality. For example, the man is obsessed with not only how but also why Annabel died. I can relate to the man in this situation because after my mom’s dog passed away about nine or ten years ago I was wondering for the longest time why she had to pass away. She wasn’t always the nicest dog, but I still loved her anyways. This poem celebrates the child-like emotions with the ideals of the Romantic era.
The poem begins with the speaker, the daughter, describing how the sky “has been dark for many years,” giving the poem a dark and murky mood. She compares her own skin to her mothers, pale from the lack of sunlight, realizing that her body is beginning to change just as her mothers did as she grew old. The realization worries her, as she secretly longs for freedom from the chore of taking care of her aging mother. But
A relationship is important to a father and son. The importance is acknowledging one another. Father and son relationships are important in the poems, “My Papa’s Waltz,” “Those Winter Sundays,” and “My Father’s Hat.” Theodore Roethke acknowledges his father’s love and attention in his poem, “My Papa’s Waltz.” Robert Hayden acknowledges his father in his poem, “Those Winter Sundays,” by recognizing his father’s hard work and sacrifice. Mark Irwin acknowledges his father in his poem, “My Father’s Hat.”
The father is consistent in carrying out actions that the son does not agree with; resulting in feelings such as “rage” or “deadfaced.” The word “for” also distinguishes between the cause and effect of each point. Each stanza begins with “for,” which is immediately followed by an action of the father; this can be seen as the “cause.” The “effect” is then shown every time the speaker states that “he [the father] made…”Additionally, the effect expresses the sons reactions or feelings. For example in the fourth stanza, “for expecting my mother to make money like food… he made us go deadfaced.” The father expecting so much of the mother results in the children all “go[ing] deadfaced.” This list-like quality is reinforced by the lack of punctuation in the poem.