My Papas Waltz Essays

My Papas Waltz Essays My Papas Waltz Paper My Papas Waltz Paper There are many excellent poets. One of which is Theodore Roethke, who has written many pieces that leave the writer confused about what he may really want to convey through his pieces. His mother sent him to Arthur Hill School because she was opposed to sending him to Saginaw High. At Arthur Hill School, Roethke learned his writing skills. As a freshman, he wrote a speech about the Red Cross. This speech received worldwide recognition and was written in twenty-six languages. Roethke had somewhat or a rough life during High school. During his junior year of High school, his uncle committed suicide in February and his father died two months when he was fourteen. Roethke was an accomplished writer early in school, but at the same time his success was tarnished by the difficult life he endured through High School. Roethkes troubled adolescence may be a reason why it is hard to know exactly what he is means through out his poems. After High school, Roethke attended University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. While at College, he joined the Chi Phi fraternity, played tennis, and worked. When he graduated, he went to Law School for a short period of time before dropping out to pursue a degree in Literature at Harvard University. Roethke was forced to withdraw from school due to his depression. After leaving school, he started writing many of his wonderful pieces and had several jobs along the way. One of his most famous works is The Waking, Poems written and published in 1954. For this wonderful piece Roethke received the Pulitzer Prize, the most prestiges award a writer can receive. In 1942, Roethke, wrote My Papas Waltz. Many of Roethkes pieces leave the reader wondering about what happened during the poem. In My Papas Waltz, he continues this legacy of leaving the reader wondering when reading his poems. At he age of 37, after writing many outstanding pieces, Roethke wrote My Papas Waltz. In My Papas Waltz, Roethke leaves the audience wondering about what he really wants to convey through his work. In My Papas Waltz, Roethke the reader is confused about what Roethke is trying to convey to the reader. When first reading the poem, you may think that the father is abusing his son but in reality the father and son may have a wonderful relationship. Roethke may have written this poem in reponse to the depression he suffered as a child and as well when his father, uncle, and mother dying. The speaker in the poem leads the reader to believe his father is abusing him. While in reality, if you look into the poem deeper you can tell that maybe the father and son are having fun together. Roethke uses sarcasm in his peom about his fathers attitude towards his son (Ashley). In lines five and six he wrote, We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf. (Ashley) If you look at what happened closely the father and son were actually fighting until the walls shook and everything fell. The father obviously drinks often and turns violent. It is also clear that happened what happened before, like he is used to being abused, because the speaker talks as if it wasnt a big deal. (Jane) The speaker may act as if it is no big deal when it really is not a big deal at all, but wants the audience to think so. The rhyming cadence of Roethkes My Papas Waltz follows the order of steps of the dance alluded to the poems title. The structure of the poem follows the rough pace of the Waltz and the conflict between the father, mother, and son that the waltz displays in the poem. The speakers recollection of what has happened generates several narratives that show the vision home and what goes on there. As you read the poem, the speakers displays different signs of abuse and terror that goes on in the house through the first two stanzas. The first stanza of the poem seems to convey the terror and abuse the child encounters from his father. The little boy, the speaker, starts off with a somewhat of a frightening tone in his voice. (Jane)As an audience, we may think that this means the father is abusive while in fact he might just have had one shot of liquor after a hard day at work. Another point made in the first stanza is the whiskey could make a young boy dizzy. If one exams hard and looks for possible explanations, one should know that any amount of whiskey smelt by a young child would make him dizzy. When reading this poem one may think that Roethke meant this to be is an abusive situation, where in fact this may be a normal night for the family. The waltzing among them the son and father turns into a more rough like manner as the two continue. In the second stanza, the waltzing becomes rougher and conveys to the reader that this may be an abusive situation. We romped until the pan slid from the kitchen shelf. After reading this line, an audience would immediately presume that the father is abusive to his son. This may be abusive but may also be the two having a great time together. One can have a fun time, but at the same time be rough while doing so. I feel that one should have an open mind about what may be really going on during the poem. In the last tw o lines of this stanza, it says, My mothers countenance Could not unfrown itself. When one first reads these lines, one would think she is scared and doesnt know what to do about the situation with the son and father. The mother in fact may not be able to believe the two can play this long and rough together. I know when I grew up that my mother had a face that way many of times after watching my dad and I having fun together. Roethke leaves the audience here wondering whether she is scared about her husbands abuse or whether she cant believe they are causing this much mayhem having fun together. Once you look at this closely, the father and son are just having a great time together due to the fact that the son doesnt get to see his father much. As I said before, it looks like the father is a drunk and abusive when in fact he has a shot of whiskey every night he comes in. In the third stanza, Roethke leaves the audience thinking that the son and father are having fun together opposed to the abuse that some think is happening. A battered knuckle, an ear scraping a buckle, those may seem like descriptions of beatings with a belt. That stanza alone can spell out negativity (Jane). However, I do not see how this stanza can mean that the poem is completely negative. When the two are waltzing, I do not feel that there is any abusive going on here. They are just so close together dancing that it sounds worse than it may be when you read this line. If you are dancing this close and as rough as these two were, anyone could get a battered knuckle. After waltzing much of the night, the father puts the son to bed. When putting the son to bed, it is clear to me that the two have a strong relationship together. In the final part of the poem, Roethke displays a kind-hearted father. After waltzing much of the night, the father puts the son to sleep. Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt. The boy didnt want to go because maybe he doesnt get to see his father very often and he clings to his shirt because it just may be one of the most satisfying things that he has done with his father and he doesnt want to lose the joy in it (Jane). During the poem, Roethke left his audience wondering about what view to take on his piece. Until the last sta nza, I could not completely tell if this was an abusive situation or an enjoyable situation. I now am confident that these two had a wonderful relationship. If this was not a good relationship, I do not think the son would have wanted his father to stay or would have been holding so hard to his father. Roethkes My Papas Waltz is a poem that leaves an audience wondering to what side it should take. Many of the pieces Roethke wrote over his career did that it as well. He leaves the reader scratching its head to what went on in this piece. Maybe this is his way of making his reader think about things that may happen in real life. Everyday we view something a certain way when in fact we were wrong because we didnt look at all details involved.