My Papas Waltz by Roethke and The Gift by Lee - Essay Example

Poetry Paper Parental Love Through Child’s Eyes in Adult’s Interpretation in “My Papa’s Waltz” by Roethke and “The Gift” by Lee The aim ofthis paper is to analyze two different poems by two different authors: Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Li-Young Lee’s “The Gift”. There are some similarities as well as differences of themes, mood, and author’s messages in these two poems. Comparing and contrasting poems will help to better understand what they have in common and what they do not. “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke was written in 1942. The poem raises contrasting opinions of the readers. It is a short poem consisting only of sixteen lines, but the meaning it conveys is very deep one. As any other poem it contains the harmony of rhythm, rhyme, and clarity of images. The emotions it evokes cross the boundaries of the written words. The messages it conveys are perceived differently. To begin with, the very first line starting with “the whiskey on your breath” (1) implies not very clear state of mind, while making “a small boy dizzy” (2) implies a message of sexual character. The father is obviously drunk. Readers of different age groups might interpret the message quite differently, because the problems expressed are perceived not in the same way by different generations. So, while reading the poem it seems like the boy is blaming his father for pain infliction upon him. Besides, the first four lines of the poem make one’s feel gloomy and depressed. What can be expected from a drunken man breathing into your face? Besides, the speaker acknowledges that waltzing was not an easy one. Also, it is not only a father who is blamed for incorrect attitude towards his child. A mother is regarded as accomplice as she does nothing to prevent her husband from excessive partying. The mother simply keeps frowning and does nothing to defend the child. “My Papa’s Waltz” is written in past tense which means that the speaker is reflecting on the events in the past. The following lines “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16) indicate that the speaker was probably a small child. It is usually children of pre-school or early school age that are taken to bed. Besides, it is a characteristic of small children to cling to one’s clothes, especially clothes of their parents. Also, indication of the fact that the speaker is child the height which is rather short: “At every step you missed / My right ear scraped a buckle” (11-12). Furthermore, the evidence that the boy was abused and beaten by his father can seem quite clear. The scraped ear is a physical injury, while battered knuckle can be indication that the man beat his son with his fists. Ideally a mother cannot stay aside when her child is abused. However, the woman could not unfrown herself maybe because she was also afraid of a drunken man or maybe she had been also abused by her spouse. At the same time, however, if to take into account life circumstances of the 1940s some of the blames inflicted by the reader can be made smoother. It was the period of beginning of the WWI or a gloomy period in the history. A man drinking whiskey after a long working day was not something unusual. The boy was seemingly taught to waltz by his father. The battered knuckle could not be necessarily an evidence of beating a boy; it could be the result of some specific physical work done with one’s hands. And “the palm caked hard by dirt” (14) could be also indication of difficult physical work. Furthermore, the word “romp” indicates positive mood of the dance and the memory about it. Finally, the fact that the boy was clinging to the clothes of this father shows that the child did not want to go to bed, but stay with his father instead. Therefore, if to analyze the poem by Roethke through the lenses of contemporary time, one can see a lot of evidence of child abuse and indication of alcoholism. However, if to analyze the point from the standpoint of the time it was written in, it could be noted that the parents had to work hard and that sometimes it was normal to drink alcohol after a hard working day. Even though the mood of the poem is not very joyful, the memories of the young boy are rather positive. It is something he remembers about his father. There was something memorable in that special waltz. Analyzing the poem from the author’s standpoint it becomes clear that a father was the dearest person to the poet. Roethke lost his father when he was a teenager. His memories of their relationship shaped the mood and the tone of this poem, which is fatherly, warm, loving, with slight smell of whiskey. Another poem under the analysis is “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee. It is written in 1st person. The author uses both the present tense for explanations and the past tense for recalling events from the past. The mood of the story is positive and, to some extent, melancholic. The speaker is the poet himself who recalls events from his childhood: “I was seven when my father / took my hand like this” (25-26). The age of the speaker is that of a little boy at the beginning of the poem, but starting from the line “I can’t remember the tale” (6) we can see that the speaker is the grown-up who recollects his feelings when he used to be a small boy. Moreover, the close relationship between a father and a child can be observed from the very beginning of the poem: “To pull the metal splinter from my palm / my father recited a story in a low voice” (1-2). The father wanted to distract child’s attention from pain. The attitude of the boy to his parent is obviously friendly: “I watched his loving face” (3). This line indicates boy’s unconditioned love towards his father. The speaker associates his father’s hands with tenderness and “flames of discipline” (12), and his voice with a prayer. Furthermore, the author makes a clear connection of his past with his present. He draws parallels between what happened back then in his childhood and what is happening now: “Had you followed that boy / you would have arrived here, / where I bend over my wife’s right hand” (18-20). The speaker is an adult who is already married. Being with his wife he recollects sweet and, at the same time, physically painful memories of his childhood. Finally, the closing lines point at some philosophical interpretation of physical pain and person’s attitude to it. From the child’s viewpoint, that physical pain was associated with “a silver tear, a tiny flame” (19). In adulthood physical pain is both perceived and associated different. However, in his reminiscences as a child the speaker did what a child could do: “I did what a child does / when he’s given something to keep. / I kissed my father” (33-35). To conclude, having compared two poems of different authors I have found many similarities such as childhood memories, relationships between a child and a father, childish fears and feelings. Grown-up speakers recall their dearest memories from their childhood and the important role a father played. The tone of the both poem is also somewhat similar as there are sad notes as well as feelings of happiness. While reading the poem I also got the feeling of some regret to being unable to come back into childhood. There are some differences in these two poems. Roethke’s poem is written in the past tense and from the perspective of a child, while in Lee’s poem we can trace combination of child’s perceptions and interpretations, and adult’s thinking over the events and memories of his childhood. Both poems show us what a great effect different events and relationships of our childhood have on us later when we grow up. People are perceived as ideals, especially when we speak about parents. Everything they do is considered to be right and extremely important. Some of the actions or words of parents might not be well-understood by a child, but they often become very valuable after several years pass. Works Cited Lee, L. “Ghe Gift”. Poetry Foundation. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. Roethke, T. “My Papa’s Waltz”. Poetry Foundation. 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. Read More