My Papa’s WaltzBY: Theodore Roethke

By: James Suttmiller

Background Information

• Theodore Roethke finest poem evoke the plant and insect life

• Troubled through adulthood like mental instability and alcoholism, he often dwells on his psyches vulnerability

• He also shows a deft comic touch in treating familial and erotic relationships

• He had conflicted relationship with his father, he feared and loved him at the same time

• His dad and uncle worked hard and long in a greenhouse

• Roethke father died when he was 15 and traumatized his life

The Poem

The hand that held my wrist  E 

Was battered on one knuckle;  F 

At every step you missed E

My right ear scraped a buckle. F

 

You beat time on my head   G

With a palm caked hard by dirt, H  

Then waltzed me off to bed   G

Still clinging to your shirt. H

The whiskey on your breath  A  

Could make a small boy dizzy;   B

But I hung on like death: A  

Such waltzing was not easy. B

 

We romped until the pans  C 

Slid from the kitchen shelf; D  

My mother’s countenance   C

Could not unfrown itself. D

  

4 stanzas 16 lines Ballad

Literary Achievement

Legendary teacher at the university of Washington

Hi poem The Far-Field won the 1964 National Book Award

Why was the poem written like this?

So every line has a new image and a word that rhymes witch helps get the point across faster on what the boys life is like.

The whiskey on your breath   Could make a small boy dizzy;   But I hung on like death:   Such waltzing was not easy.  We romped until the pans   Slid from the kitchen shelf;   My mother’s countenance   Could not unfrown itself.  The hand that held my wrist   Was battered on one knuckle;   At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle.  You beat time on my head   With a palm caked hard by dirt,   Then waltzed me off to bed   Still clinging to your shirt.

speaker Sounds to be a small, young boy that

loves his papa The kid has lots of energy The kid seems to love his papa and

wants to stay by his side like he is glued to him

The kid gets in trouble a lot but id very forgiving because he never stops wanting to be with his papa

Authors purposeTheodore respected his father very much and would play out side with his dad as he worked and when his dad died when he was 15 he lost control of his life. The fact he was so close to his dad explains why he would not let go. His dad would work all day and worked in a green house witch explains the hands caked hard by dirt. So Theodore most likely wrote this after his dad died because he said that he hung on like death because he wished he could spend more time with him.

Imagery

“But I hung on like death.”this means that the boy would not leave his pap’s side.

“we romped around until the pans slide from the kitchen shelf”

This means they would play around until something broke and they made a lot of noise and vibration.

Imagery

“The hand that held my wrist”This is explaining that the boy is getting stopped and grabbed by the wrist and is about to get hit

“ Then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt”

This shows the reader even after the discipline the kid just received he still loves his papa and wants to be with him.

Stanza 1 poetic terms

• Metaphor: “hung on like death” means never let go.

• Personification: death can not hang on to any thing it is not living.

• Imagery: “whiskey on your breath” and “hung on like death” show the reader that the papa has a drinking problem but the boy still loves him.

• Rhyme: breath and death rhyme/dizzy and easy rhyme

The whiskey on your breath   

Could make a small boy dizzy;   

But I hung on like death:   

Such waltzing was not easy.

Waltzing: a ball room dance (one step pre beat)

Stanza 2 poetic terms

• Imagery: they made a lot of noise and raucous in the kitchen witch caused the pans to fall and they boys mother to get mad.

• Rhyme: shelf and itself.

Countenance: appearance, especialy the look on the face.

We romped until the pans   

Slid from the kitchen shelf;   

My mother’s countenance   

Could not unfrown itself.

Unfrown: turn a frown to a smile, be happy, not angry

Stanza 3 poetic terms

• Imagery: the boy was held on the wrist and was hit with a buckle for discipline.

• Rhyme: wrist and missed/ knuckle and buckle.

The hand that held my wrist   

Was battered on one knuckle;   

At every step you missed

My right ear scraped a buckle.

Stanza 4 poetic terms

• Imagery: the boy/ speakers father beat him then sent him off to bed but the boy still loves his papa and stays by his side .

• Rhyme: head and bed/ dirt and shirt.

• Metaphor: “ with a palm caked hard by dirt” he must work out side a lot because his hands are dirty.

• Repetition: waltzed( used before)

• Personification:“ you beat time on my head” you cant touch or even feel time so it is a saying.

You beat time on my head   

With a palm caked hard by dirt,   

Then waltzed me off to bed   

Still clinging to your shirt.

My papa’s waltz

Figurative meaning • The boy loves his drinking

papa and loves to play around with him even after he gets done punishing him.

Literal meaning • The meaning of the poem is to

show that family might have problems (like drinking or abuse) but you can’t let go of them and stop loving them because they are your family. Even if they have to discipline you they still love you and you still love them and you should not let go of them just because they yell at you.

Theme: A wild kid can get disciplined but still love his father and stay by his side even throw the thick.

Sites used

www.shmoop.com

Poetryoutloud.org

http://digitalcrowsnest.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/conclusion-of-my-papas-waltz-by-theodore-roethke/

http://dr-myri-blog.blogspot.com/2012/11/random-thoughts-on-wrist-grabbing.html

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAYQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fmen%2Frelationships%2Ffatherhood%2F10882270%2FAre-fathers-better-at-bedtime-stories-than-mothers.html&ei=4IluVJWGDozGsQSR3YGIDQ&bvm=bv.80185997,d.cWc&psig=AFQjCNGM04WFhn3rRTNZHp7wMPLYKy2Faw&ust=1416616762754508