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My Papa’s Waltz
Theodore Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan and grew up on the west side of the Saginaw River. Roethke spent most of his childhood time in greenhouse. His father died and also his uncle suicide when he was very young in early 1923. These deaths shaped Roethke’s psyche and creative life.
In this poem speaker is a small boy. Who’s is trying to explain the whole situation of his home when his father get drunk .In the first stanza speaker is saying that Father came home drunk and start dancing with the boy and the smell that coming from his mouth making a small boy dizzy. In second stanza Father start waltzing around in the home but that waltzing was not easy for the boy he was just hanging with his father’s shirt.in third stanza While waltzing in the kitchen pans start falling down and mother did not seem happy with this situation going on in the house. In forth stanza While father was drunk he miss every single step and boy’s ear get scraped with belt but father was holding boys wrist very strongly.In last stanza speaker is saying that Father being very rough with the boy through the whole dance, but boy was liking it. At the end father put the boy on bed to sleep but boy did not want to sleep yet.
Speaker is explaining the situation of his home when he was young and his father use to get drunk. It was not the story of just one night this happened a lot. With this poem speaker also trying to explain the relationship of his father with him and his mother. With this kind of situation speaker’s mother was not happy but she couldn’t do anything. Father loved his son but he was little careless. Speaker did not use any harsh word and it seems like that speaker was enjoying the waltzing with his father and don’t want to leave him. In the whole poem one person who was not happy was the mother and she was showing that with her face exprations. Speaker explain the whole situation in very dramatic way that shows the feeling of the speaker ,but on the other hand he also explaining that how the mother was feeling.