poetry essay
sophia kirk 711
sophia kirk 711
In the poems ‘Those Winter Sundays’ by Robert Hayden and ‘My Papa’s Waltz’ by Theodore Roethke the speakers recall childhood memories of their fathers in order to describe how the fathers expressed themselves. Both poems speak of hard working fathers. But from the memories described the two fathers express themselves in very different ways. This seems to make the homes very different as well.
In ‘Those Winter Sundays’, the speaker recalls the father also getting up early even on Sundays and describes him as having ‘cracked hands that ached from labor’. Even though the father seems to be very busy with work, he never seems to rest and takes the time to get up early to start the fire and make the house warm. Still the speaker mentions dealing with the ‘chronic angers of that house.’ This seems to indicate there is often trouble in the home. Hayden recalls ‘speaking indifferently’ to his father. It appears they don’t have a close relationship.
In ‘My Papa’s Waltz’, the speaker tells of a common event in his household and describes what sounds like a much rowdier home. Roethke begins by recalling of his father ‘the whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy.’ The two would waltz in less than graceful manner until ‘the pans slid from the kitchen shelf’. One can only imagine the noise in the house as the two ‘romped’ around. The speaker’s father is shown to be a playful character not as concerned with responsibilities of the household. Still the speaker seems to recall fondly clinging to his shirt as he went off to bed.
Both poems share personal memories of the speaker’s fathers. The fathers both seem to be hard working, loving dads but the homes they make and the way in which they express themselves are very different. Hayden’s father is cold and impersonal whereas Roethke’s dad is more playful and childlike. One home is often cold both emotionally and temperature while the other is filled with warmth and is loud and in disarray.
