Style. “My Papa’s Waltz” follows a
loose ballad form
. Its four-line stanzas feature an ABAB rhyme scheme—that is, the first line rhymes with the third and the second rhymes with the fourth, as in head/bed and dirt/shirt. The words on each line generally alternate between unstressed and stressed syllables.
What meter is my Papa’s waltz in?
“My Papa’s Waltz” Vocabulary
Roethke recreates the feeling of a waltz with the meter of his poem,
iambic trimeter
, which also has three beats per line.
What sound devices are in My Papa’s waltz?
“My Papa’s Waltz” uses
assonance assonance throughout
. Much of this assonance adds to the bouncy rhythm of the poem, the steady repetition of sound making the poem itself feel like a dance. Throughout the first stanza, for example, there’s assonance of the /aw/ sound.
Is My Papa’s waltz about abuse?
Child abuse is physical mistreatment that unfortunately happens to children everywhere around the world. In the same way, the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, describes and gives the readers an insight of
what
child abuse is like. The poem presents a relationship between a drunken father and his son.
What makes My Papa’s waltz poetic?
‘My Papa’s Waltz’ by Theodore Roethke describes
the complicated relationship between a father and son through the metaphor of a dance
. In the first lines of this poem the speaker describes his father’s whiskey breath, his movements, and how “Such waltzing was not easy”.
What is the metaphor in My Papa’s waltz?
In the scope of things, “My Papa’s Waltz” is a
metaphor for the father-son relationship
in the poem. The waltz represents the dance between love and resentment between the father and son.
What does romped mean in My Papa’s waltz?
Lines 7-8.
My mother’s countenance
.
Could not unfrown itself
. Now the mother enters the picture, and she’s pretty unhappy that her husband and her son are “romping.” Maybe because they’re making a mess of the kitchen. “Countenance” means face, or expression.
Are there any shifts in My Papa’s Waltz?
The tone consists of love, and pain.
It continues to shift
. In stanza 1, we see a boy struggling to dance with his drunk father. … In the last stanza, we see a more confusing setting that the father is “beating” his son on the head, but yet the child still clings to his shirt because he doesn’t want to go to bed.
What does but I hung on like death mean?
But I hung on like death: This line indicates that
the whiskey is indeed making our speaker quite dizzy
, because he has to hang on like death, perhaps the one thing that hangs on to us all. Using the word “death” so early in the poem clues the reader in that this poem isn’t just a happy memory – it’s also haunted.
What is the imagery in my Papa’s Waltz?
Imagery: Imagery
is used to make readers perceive things with their five senses
. Theodore has used imagery in this poem such as, “But I hung on like death”, “Still clinging to your shirt” and “My right ear scraped a buckle” to show how the boy stayed with his father.
Is My Papa’s waltz happy or sad?
Theodore Roethke and a Summary of ‘My Papa’s Waltz’
This poem offers a snapshot of life from the mind of a child and conveys a sense of fun and menace at the same time. The dance is a
waltz
, so it has a lilting, regular feel to it, almost lighthearted.
What type of abuse is remembered in My Papa’s waltz?
The waltz represents a repetitive step and in the poem the waltz is his
father’s constant abuse
and interrupts the sweet idealistic dance. The boy’s mother had a face that “could not unfrown itself” meaning that she was an unhappy wife in a brutal marriage.
What is the attitude of my Papa’s waltz?
The tone of the poem is
melancholic and resentful indeed
but the greatest irony of the poem lies in the fact that Waltz is a symbol of elegance and grace. Nevertheless, the entire episode of the poem is quite disgraceful as the father is drunk and is not in his senses while executing any of his gesture towards his son.
Why does the speaker in My Papa’s Waltz say Such waltzing was not easy?
Waltzing is “not easy” for the boy in “My Papa’s Waltz”
because of the fear he has of his father
. The waltz in “My Papa’s Waltz” could be seen as difficult because of the size difference between father and son.
What is the conflict in My Papa’s Waltz?
Expert Answers
One could argue that the central conflict of the poem is
between the narrator and his drunken father
. The father has picked up his son and is drunkenly dancing around the house with him, causing mayhem with each misstep.
Is there personification in My Papa’s Waltz?
Theodore Roethke employs
apostrophe
, personification and ironic similes in order to convey the concept of childhood innocence and unconditional love to his audience.
