Theodore Roethke

In the poem My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke, the article Coming of Age Whether They like it or Not by Megan Rubiner Zinn, the novel Coach Wooden and Me by Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and my personal connection would playing sports or working while enjoying both it all comes down to choose one, all show coming of age through a common theme of making hard decisions that help their future decisions. The connection between the two is coming of age by helping one achieve what they want, a bribe. In…

through symbolism. Typically these symbols represent something much deeper within the character. When Theodore Roethke wrote “My Papa’s Waltz” there was much more to this poem than what is read on the surface. At first glance this poem seems to be about a young boy who is abused by his alcoholic Father. After breaking this poem into different pieces it is only then that the reader is able to see how Roethke applied the Psychology Criticism to explain that the waltz is not a dance, but it is…

In the villanelle poem The Waking, the author Theodore Roethke uses a villanelle, consisting of five tersest and a quatrain with two rhymes that are used repeatedly throughout the entire poem. Figurative language, rhythm, rhyme and imagery are used to help covey the meaning of this particular poem; about a man who is waking up from a deep sleep realizing that to discover great success, failure has to be achieved as well. The first stanza is about a man who is waking up and he is realizing that…

Similar to ‘Half-Past Two’ the poem ‘My Papa’s Waltz’ includes an authority figure of whom abuses their power over the child; in ‘Half-Past Two’ the teacher forgets about the child then when she remembers she attempts to blame the child for his own lateness, while in ‘My Papa’s Waltz’ the child and father are in a possibly physical and corporal relationship yet the child loves his father nonetheless. The strong feeling I will discuss in ‘My Papa’s Waltz’ is the fondness the child has of the…

Roethke poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, presents a father and son spending quality time together after coming home from a day of work. As the small boy interacts with his dad, the smell of whisky coming off his dad’s breath could make the boy dizzy. They romped around the kitchen while the mother’s face could not unfrown itself. As the wrestling and aggravation come to a waltzing to the bed, the small boy clings to his dad’s shirt not wanting to leave his dad. “My Papa’s Waltz” presents a man…

From the beginning of the poem, one can already sense that this poem seems dark since the poem introduced the father as drunk, as the line clearly goes like this: “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy.” The father might have had too much to drink to make the little boy say, “it could make a small boy dizzy.” Then the word, “death”, is seen in the third line of the first stanza, and the line goes, “But I hung on like death.” I could imagine that the father might have lifted the…

My Papa: an inspirational figure or the utter downfall of existence? “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a poem about living with an abusive parent. For example, Roethke uses the word “romped” to describe a situation having to do with his papa. While the subject of this poem has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike; the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that you can not resist caring for those that…

In “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers perspective. It is a great poem that can mean many different things to many different people. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. Other people believe that this poem has a hidden message of parental abuse. The imagery and language, the symbols and tone in the poem gave me the impression of the love between the father and son, not of an abusive…

In the poem, My Papa’s Waltz, by Theodore Roethke is about a young man with emotions of fear and unconditional love for his father. The imperfections of his father has never seem to bother him instead he tried to make great memories out of it. This poem showed emotions of fear and love through word choice, imagery and metaphors. Theodore word choice brings mixed emotions into the poem and how boy feels towards his father. The words “death” (line 3) and “waltzing” (line 4) in the first quatrain…

Waltz is a poem written by Theodore Roethke explained the experience he had with his father during his childhood. The poem has a unhidden message of child’s father abused. Roethke used some strong words to describe his father abused. Words like death romped, scraped, frown, palm; just to name a few. The child was abused by his drunken and violent father. First and Foremost, no happy kid with happy childhood will describe his relationship with his father as Roethke did in his poem. It is…