My Papa's Waltz Poem Analysis Essay

In a poem, its meaning can be taken in many ways. The meanings of each poem are developed by different interpretations of the content itself. The poet that created the poem could have had one idea in mind but when written, it would of seem like a completely different idea. For Example, the poem My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke has multiple meanings. The first meaning is the original idea of the poem which the first interpretation. The first possible interpretation is that the father is intoxicated and playfully carried his child up to bed, the 2nd possible interpretation is that it was an abusive and hit his kid and forcefully placed him into bed, finally the last interpretation is a drunk and strict father being overly upset with his kid for being up too late and forcefully put his kid to sleep. The poem “My Papa's Waltz” can be interpreted 3 different ways: the drunk caring father, the drunk abusive father, and the drunk strict father.
The first interpretations are where the working father comes back home drunk out of his mind and carries his child playfully back to bed while the mother is unhappy toward her intoxicated husband. Stated in the poem:
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 …show more content…
Compared to the previous interpretation, this Interpretation displays a more dark and sad look towards the poem. The hand that held my wrist /Was battered on one knuckle; (Roethke 9-10). The first two lines claim that the father had his hand on the child's wrist with a battered knuckle. Having a battered knuckle can only mean that the knuckle has collided with something. The sign of abuse is the battered knuckle. The battered knuckle can possibly be received by resistance by the person that he is harming, which is his

Show More

Related Documents: My Papa's Waltz Poem Analysis Essay

My Papas Waltz vs. Those Winter Nights Essay