My Papa's Waltz

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At first many things may not seem as they appear. Most of the time, the deeper one gets into something, the better they understand what’s really going on. The short poem, ‘My Papa’s Waltz”, can have that effect. With this poem only being sixteen lines, it is incredible that Roethke could have gotten a dark side from a poem that was supposed to be heartwarming. The relationship between a father and a son can be a complex thing. After Roethke’s father died when he was only fifteen, he went through depressing and mental illness. Around that time, “Roethke’s writing often referred back to his childhood and, as we see in this poem, his father”. (Shmoop Edi…) Even though many say that he was afraid of his father, Roethke expressed a deep sense of love for his father in his poems. …show more content…
Touching a pone the surface of the poem, one would be able to picture an abusive story. If a person examines the poem thoroughly they can then have reasons to say that the poem is a happy poem. One thing that is sure would be the father’s drunkenness which is clearly stated in the first line, “The whiskey on your breath- Could make a small boy dizzy”. (Line 1 and 2) It is said that the first impression can be seen dark due to the known perception of Roethke’s work. Also “From the child’s perspective, the “waltz” has been something to endure, not to enjoy”. (My
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