My Papa's Waltz

A detailed Summary of My Papa's Waltz

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers' perspective. The title itself, the word choices, and the rhythm in the poem gave me the impression that the father is not abusive but drunk.

The images used by the speaker were simultaneously tempting and satisfying to support my point of view of the father drunk ness. The speaker mentions that the breath of his father smelled like whiskey, continues saying that the waltzing wasn't easy, and implies that the father was careless and was missing steps while dancing. The poem start with the speaker stating that his father is very drunk; he's so wasted that just his breath could make a little boy dizzy. A waltz is a type of dance that someone must lead; the father is the one leading the child into the waltz and he doesn't have much control of himself. In the second stanza the way that they were dancing was careless that was probably why the pans from the kitchen shelf were sliding. In the third stanza the narrator implies that the father was missing s

The poem is dominated by end rhyme, but each of the first two stanzas contains one slant rhyme. In lines 2 and 4 - "dizzy" and "easy" these are slant rhymes rather than the true rhymes that dominate the rest of the poem. The early stanzas of the poem feel looser as a result. In lines 5 and 7 the words "pans", "countenance" in order to hear the rhyme, the ear has to bend the sounds slightly. In lines 14 and 16 "shirt", "dirt"; these words are true end rhyme.

The word choices used by the speaker (clinging, waltzing, romped) made me believe that the waltz that they were dancing was happy and pleasurable. The word "clinging" shows closeness between father and child; the sound of the "w" in waltzing and the ending "ing" make the waltz sound normal and calm; the word "romped" that seem pleasant or innocent dominate the first part of the poem indicating that they're dancing around enjoying the waltz.

The title of the poem gave me the impression that the speaker had great

The poem ends by the confort of the speaker going to bed and the closeness shown betw

Some common words found in the essay are:
Theodore Roethke, father drunk, Papa's Waltz, waltz sound, kitchen shelf, , hand holding, third stanza, father child, physical abuse, missing steps, closeness father, father son,

Approximate Word count = 725
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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My Papa's Waltz

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