Relationship Between Fathers and Sons

In his poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke, an award-winning and critically acclaimed poet, emphasizes the strong bond between a father and his son by describing a drunken father dancing in the kitchen with his young son. Unfortunately, when Roethke was only fourteen, his father passed away from cancer and his uncle committed suicide. Although these events are tragic, they impacted Roethke deeply and influenced his works, especially “My Papa’s Waltz” (CITE). Through his use of diction, style, and imagery in “My Papa’s Waltz,” Roethke effectively supports the theme of a child’s admiration for his parents. Roethke’s word choice in the title allow him to convey a cheery, yet solemn tone and set the scene for the rest of the poem.

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke writes about a little boy who is about to go to bed, and his father comes home with a strong smell of alcohol on his breath, “The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy;” (Roethke 1-2 ). This shows that the father has been drinking and the smell is so strong he is getting dizzy from it. Even though the little boy dad is drinking he is very happy to be with him. As Roethke points out, “But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy” (Roethke 3-4). As the little boy and his father continued to dance around the house and have a good time, the little boy’s mother was getting angry at the father.

Roethke's tone in this work exhibits the blended, yet powerful emotions that he, as a grown man, feels when looking back on this childhood experience. The author somewhat implicates feelings of resentment fused with a loving reliance with his father. For example, the first two lines of the poem read: "The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy;" (Roethke 668). This excerpt appears to set a dark sort of mood for the entire rest of the poem. By the first two lines, the reader may already see how this man feels about his father's drunkenness.

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”.

He is asked to take his small son to bed. The poem begins, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Roethke line 1) enlists the imagery of what the young boy was smelling as he most likely climbed aboard his fathers’ large work boots for the evening waltz to bed. It is obvious this is an evening ritual, one that is cherished. The boy is aware of his fathers’ waltzing abilities and he concedes that he is up for the challenge. The irony of the statement, “I hung on like death” (Roethke line 3) is a private one, yet deeply describes his yearning for one more waltz with his father who passed away when Theodore was only fifteen years ... ... middle of paper ... ...s his father tucks him into bed.

As they dance, when the boy misses a step his ear scrapes his dad's belt buckle painfully, and finally the father whisks him off to bed. This is obviously a defining moment in his childhood. Most of us can think of a time when we roughhoused or danced with our fathers, standing on their feet so that we could keep... ... middle of paper ... ...o so because they love their children. By reflecting back on this experience as an adult, Hayden gives the reader the chance to mend his/her ways before it is too late-to appreciate our fathers for all that they do. Although Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden have very different experiences in childhood to write about, the overall message is appreciation of their fathers.

In My Papa's Waltz, Theodore Roethke describes an episode in his childhood. In this, what seems to be regular, occurrence his drunken father comes home for the night reeking of alcohol and begins dancing with him. Roethke describes his father's hands as being battered on one knuckle and extremely soiled. They "romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf" (5-6). This made his mother so upset that she could do nothing but frown.

The line, “With a palm caked hard by dirt” also does much to throw the meaning of the poem off. It is assumed that his father’s hands are dirty in some relation to his alcoholism, but in reality his hands are dirty because his father often worked in a greenhouse as a farmer. This leads to the last two lines of the poem where the boys feelings about the father come full circle. When the waltz is finished, and despite the aggressive nature of the dance, the boy in the poem does not want to stop and go to bed. He remains clinging to his shirt, as well as clinging to this memory of their dance together.

In “My Papa’s Waltz” I remember when my father would come home intoxicated and be rough and tumble with us. Never intentionally to harm, but unable to control his physicality when he was inebriated. Three very different very unique poems about fathers. I’m glad I had this project because it has opened my mind to different types of literature.

The Poem “My Papa’s Waltz”, a poem written by Theodore Roethke, is a poem that is both literal and figurative in nature. In summary, the poem is about a Dad that just got off of work that recently had a copious amount of whiskey, and he's waltzing around the kitchen area with his son. The dad is a man who works with his hands, because according to stanza three, line two, his knuckles are rough, and deals with a lot of dirt or dirty materials. This dance is not easy for the son, for example, in stanza three, line four, when he scrapes his ear on his dad's belt. This occurs every time there is seven syllables in a line, indicating the father missed a beat in his step of the waltz they are administering.