MY PAPAS WALTZ

ANUPRIYA-INTRODUCTION
RISHAB-SUMMARY
AADARSHA-THEME
MANASI-ANALYSIS
THEODORE ROETHKE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born Theodore Huebner Roethke
May 25, 1908
Saginaw, Michigan

Died August 1, 1963(aged55)

Bainbridge Island, Washington

Occupation Teacher, poet, author

Nationality United States
Almamater University of Michigan
Genre American poetry
Notable works The Waking,The Lost Son,The Far
Field,Words for the Wind

Notable awards Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award

SUMMARY
DADDY IS DRUNK
HE IS WALTZING AROUND WITH HIS SON

HIS KNUCKES ARE ROUGH

IN THE END FATHER DANCES BOY OFF TO

BED
THEME:
1. Family

2. Admiration

3. Men and masculinity

FAMILY
1. The whiskey on your breath | Could make a small boy

dizzy (lines 1-2)

2. We romped until the pans | Slid from the kitchen

shelf (lines 5-6)

3. At every step you missed | My right ear scraped a

buckle (lines 11-12)

4. Then waltzed me off to bed | Still clinging to your

shirt (lines 15-16)

ADMIRATION
1. But I hung on like death (line 3)

2. My mothers countenance | Could not unfrown

itself (lines 7-8)

3. Then waltzed me off to be | Still clinging to

your shirt (lines 15-16)

MEN AND MASCULINITY
1. The whiskey on your breath | Could make a

small boy dizzy (lines 1-2)

2. My mothers countenance | Could not unfrown

itself (lines 7-8)

ANALYSIS:
1. Symbol analysis
2. Speaker
3. Setting
4. Sound check
5. Topic analysis
 Dancing
Readers expect some dancing

In line 5, father-son pair is actually romping

Dance symbolises relation between father and

son
 Line 4 : such waltzing was not easy
Speaker is not having too much fun in this little
dance
Boy has to hung on like death so must be a
scary one

Line 9-10: the hand that held my wrist

Was battered on one knuckle
Dad keeps messing up and missing steps

A metaphor for the fathers mistakes in real life

 Violence
A hint of violent tension

No indication of overt abuse

Lines 1-2 the whiskey on your breath

Could make a small boy dizzy
Establish that papa is drunk

A situation that might lead to violence

 Line 3: but I hung on like death
An example of simile

Holding onto his father so hard that hes as

inescapable as death

Lines 11-12: At every step you missed,

My right ear scraped a buckle
Accidentally hurting his child

Not being violent intentionally

Kid being too scared to speak and say ou!!

SPEAKER

Our speaker is the small boy in the second line

No idea on whose idea was it to dance- the
fathers or our speakers
Boy is being made dizzy by alcohol on his papas
breath
The boy loves his father no matter how much his
breath smells
Love can be seen by the way the kid still wants to
cling on his fathers shirt
SETTING

Since the poem written in 1940s, assume the

poem being set some time before that
Poem takes place in, at least near the kitchen of
this familys home
Maybe a waltz is actually playing on the radio

Mom is not happy with the father-son dance

Both father and son are creating a mess in the

kitchen making all the pots and pans fall of the
shelves, and clatter all over the floor
SOUND CHECK

Poem sounds like whats it about: a waltz

Waltzes are songs written in time and the
dance that accompanies them has three steps
The waltz is a graceful, intimate dance,
normally performed with a male and female
partner.
In the poem, even something as noisy as pans
falling off the shelf is graceful in the poem
The pans dont clatter or clash, instead the slide,
just as dance partners slide across the floor
TOPIC ANALYSIS

Title sets the scene of the poem before we even

read the first line
Title is personal and the tone is nostalgic

Topic also helps in broadening the interpretation

of the poem
CONCLUSION
POEM IS CONTROVERSIAL
UP TO YOU TO DECIDE
QUESTIONS
What is the tone of the poem?
Is speakers attitude towards his father
affectionate?
Summarize this poem in one long sentence.