My Papa’s Waltz Poetry Analysis

“My Papa’s Waltz” is a light-heartedly written poem with an uneasy undertone. The poem was written by Theodore Roethke, a man who suffered depression and other mental illnesses due to his abusive father’s death. His poems reflect his mental illnesses and focus on childhood memories. This particular poem was written to bring awareness to child abuse. Roathke is able to accomplish this through the strategic use of double meanings, literary devices, and abusive diction. He channels his recollection of his father to bring the reader a chaotic, dark, and frightening scene. With the use of double meanings, Roathke is able to paint a disorganized picture, all while using words that have typically traditionally graceful …show more content…
The first example of these literary devices is a simile used in line 3. The simile states “But I hung on like death,” (line 3). This is showing that, because his father was sick with cancer, the young boy is clinging so tightly, awaiting his father’s death. This fear of death caused Roathke to have serious depression; this is similar to the young boy described in the poem. Another example of a poetic device is the metaphor, “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf,” (lines 5 and 6). This metaphor is saying that the father and son were being rowdy, they were causing a disturbance. This hints that the relationship between the boy and his father affected more people than just the two of them. This simile flows into the example of personification following it. Lines 7 and 8 say “My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself,” (lines 7 and 8). A countenance is a person’s face or facial expressions. These lines are stating that the mother had a permanent frown because she felt as though there was no fix to the problem between the father and the son. The third and final way Roathke brings awareness to child abuse is through the use of abusive diction. Abusive diction is first used when Roathke says “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle,” (lines 9 and 10). The use of the words “battered on one knuckle” (line 10), show the reader that the father in the poem may have been recently punching something, or someone. A dark image is also shown when the author says “The hand that held my wrist,” (line 9). When the reader comes across this line, they see a father agressively holding on to his young