THEODORE ROETHKE ( ) “My Papa’s Waltz” “Child on Top of a Greenhouse”

MY ANALYSIS  “Child on Top of a Greenhouse” about a boy who is admiring nature. Cuts his foot on glass Ashamed of who he is  “My Papa’s Waltz About a boy being abused by his father Father is a drunk Mother cant stop him

CRITICAL- “MY PAPA’S WALTZ”  Ciardi: “My Papa’s Waltz is a poem of terror… the house is shaking, the mother is frowning, the father’s hand is scarred by violence, every misstep in the dance scrapes the father’s belt buckle painfully against the boy’s ear” (Fong 80).  Kennedy: “Although this reader [one who believes it is about abuse] noticed some of the events in the poem to be desperate, he missed the tone of the poem so misunderstood it altogether…Nor did he stop to feel the suggestions in the last line, with the boy still clinging with persistent love” (Fong 79-80).

EXPLICATION “MY PAPA’S WALTZ”  The Whiskey on your breath / could make a small boy dizzy Father is a drinker  But I hung on like death Kid is holding on for dear life  My mothers countenance / could not unfrown itself Mom could not do anything to stop it

EXPLICATION  The hand that held my wrist / was battered on one knuckle Hand is hurt from violence  At every step you missed / My right ear scraped a buckle Every time the boy messed up he got hit with the belt  Still clinging to your shirt Still holding on to try not to be dropped

LITERARY ELEMENTS  Rhyme scheme 1 st +3 rd word and 2 nd +4 th word of each stanza rhyme Ex: Breath and Death  Metaphor At every step you missed / my right ear scraped a buckle  Simile But I hung on LIKE death  Euphony “A smooth, pleasant sounding, choice of and arrangements of sounds” Sounds like one is dancing alone as they read

EXPLICATION “CHILD ON TOP OF A GREENHOUSE”  Wind billowing out the seat of my britches Just sitting and enjoying the breeze  My feet crackling splinters of glass and dried putty Cut his feet, but does not seem to react much  A few white clouds rushing eastward Enjoying the beauty of the clouds going by

EXPLICATION  And everyone, everyone pointing up and shouting I don’t think anyone is accutaly there He is showing that he is ashamed of something Thoughts of others judging him are overcoming the beauty of nature

LITERARY ELEMENTS  Caesura Up through the streaked glass, flashing with sunlight  Personification Flowers= accusers Elms- plunging and tossing  Free Verse  Imagery My feet crackling splinters of glass and dried putty  Simile The half grown chrysanthemums staring up LIKE accusers

WORKS CITED  Fong, Bobby. "Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz"" JSTOR. College Literature, Web. 5 May  Roethke, Theodore. “My Papa’s Waltz.”  Roethke, Theodore. “Child on Top of a Greenhouse.”  "Theodore Roethke." The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May  "Two Interpretations: "A Child on Top of a Greenhouse"" Tripod. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May  Google images