Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Rhyme Verse Form Poem: My Papa’s Waltz

Asri Atika W, an English teacher from Madura, East Java, Indonesia, analyzes a rhyme verse form poem entitled My Papa’s Waltz. She comments that the poem is not suitable for Junior High School students because it contais a harsh scene in which a son and his mother are powerless in the presence of a drunk and domineering father.

My Papa’s Waltz
Theodore Roethke (1908-1963)

The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother is countenance
Could not uncrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scrapped a buckle.

You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hand by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.

1.  This poem belongs to rhymed verse form poem
2.  Paraphrase: The poem tells about a drunken father who forced his son to dance with him. They romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf, and the mother didn’t do anything. She seemed to be afraid to interfere. In each missed step that the father made, he carelessly hurt the son’s ear and with a dirty hand, he also beat on the son’s head. When the father dropped the son on the bed, the boy’s still clinging to his father’s shirt.
3.  Poetic Devices
     The rhyme scheme of this poem is a b a b.  The kind of stanza is quatrain because each stanza consists of four lines. There is no alliteration, onomatopoeia and repetition in this poem, but there is a simile. It is in line three of the first stanza (“but I hung on like death”}
4.  Poetic Diction
     In my point of view, this poem belongs to satiric poetry in which the author expresses his resentment for his father. The resentment can be seen through the following evidences:
     a.  The title (“My Papa’s Waltz”). The title specifically implies that the waltz was exclusively the father’s. Since a waltz normally involves two people, it can be reasoned that the father dance his waltz without regard for his son.
     b.  The first stanza. “the whiskey on your breath” conjures up an olfactory image that most would find unpleasant. This small boy finds it  so overpowering he is made “dizzy”.
     c.  Second stanza. “The pans/slid from the kitchen shelf/my mother countenance/could not uncrown itself”. This is a visual image of a silent, unhappy wife who is afraid to interfere in the domestic destruction around her. This detail suggests a domineering father who controls the family.
     d.  Third stanza. It relates the father’s “battered” hand holding the son’s wrist. The tactile image of holding a wrist suggests dragging or forcing an unwilling person, not holding hands as would be expected with a mutual dance partner. Further disregards for the son’s feelings is displayed by the lines “at every step you missed/ my right ear scrapped a buckle”. In each missed step, probably due to his drunkenness, the father causes the boy physical pain.
     e.  Last stanza. “you beat time on my head / with a palm caked hard by dirt”. The visual and tactile image of a dirt-hardened hand beating on a child’s head as if it were a drum is distinctly unpleasant.
     In this poem, the author expresses his resentment for his father in humorous tone. The humor is further reinforced by playful rhymes like dizzy and easy, knuckle and buckle, as well as the joyful suggestions of the words waltz, waltzing, and romped.
     An ambiguity is found in this poem. The last lines (“then waltzed me off to bed/ still clinging to your shirt”) possibly suggests the boy is still clinging to his father persistent if also complicated love. On the other hand, noticing the earlier dark images, the conclusion could describe the boy clinging out of fear, the physical fear of being dropped by a father who is drunk and the emotional fear of not being loved as a child needs to be by his father.
     There is also an irony in this poem. The poem’s rollicking rhythm contributes to a sense of fun. The joyful, rollicking rhythm can be seen as ironic. By reminding of a waltzing tempo, it is highlighting the discrepancy of what a waltz should be and the bleak, frightening picture painted in the words.
5.  Content
     a.  Theme: a desperateness/ fear of a domineering, drunken, rough father.
     b.  Message: Parents should treat their children tenderly and give them love.
6.  Comment
     This poem is not suitable for Junior High School students because it contain a harsh scene in which a son and his mother are powerless in the presence of a drunk and domineering father.

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