Fathers in Literature
...awn (“blueblack cold”) even on Sundays. Additionally, his father is depicted as some sort of outside labor worker because his hands are “cracked” and “ache” from the cold. He implies that his fathers’ hands were so cold that it could put out a fire; this extreme metaphor is used to strength the idea that is father worked in very bad conditions. The third stanza illustrates Hayden’s feelings, as a boy. At home, the child would only hear the cold wind and snow (“splintering, breaking”). He depicts the image of the “warm” house because readers recognize that his father worked out in the cold for his son to be cozy at home. However, the child is not aware of this. The separate line “and dress” slows the poem down, suggesting uncertainty or fear. Unfortunately, the child dislikes his household and doesn’t recognize his father’s love, and consequently had “never thanked him”. However, in the third stanza, Hayden realizes his father’s love. Now as an adult, he knows why his home was “warm” and his shoes polished (dressed well). He feels guilt of not having realized his father’s love and reason for suffering the cold, but he doesn’t blame himself for it. The last two lines of the poem and the last sentence of the first stanza are very closely tied. He never thanked his father for all the things he had done for him because as a child, Hayden, did not know of labor and “lonely offices”. Unlike, “Those Winter Sundays”, “My Papa’s Waltz” doesn’t completely focus on the father’s work; it concentrates more on the father and child’s relationship. Many critics believe that the poem’s extended metaphor is about child abuse; however, I disagree. I believe that the whole poem is a triumph of parenthood love. With a little bit a “whiskey” Roethke’s father is relaxed and full of energy; he passionately with his son. The phrase “I hung on like death,” suggests that the child was small and weak, and therefore was having a hard time keeping-up with his father. Many critics believe that the word “romped” is used in a negative context; however, I believe that it simply portrays the energy in their dancing. He uses the metaphor of pans sliding “from the kitchen shelf” to portray the noise and force of their dancing. He adds, that his mother wasn’t very thrilled by the two’s noisy dancing. The third stanza illustrates the physical differences between the two. The first two lines of stanza three, connect to the first stanza when he mentioned their grip. He describes his father’s tight hold on his wrist, to intensify their relationship. On line 11 he addresses his father as “you”; this implies that he wrote this poem for his father. He successfully portrays the height difference between the father and child; every wrong step the child would hit his father’s waist (belt “buckle”). The last stanza is one of the most confusing of all; although many compare...