Lasting ImpressionsLasting ImpressionsThroughout the ages, authors have been known to use many of their life experiences in their literary works. They use certain moments that have been imprinted in their heads, because in some way these specific experiences have changed their lives. For instance, Theodore Roethke wrote the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” in which he writes about a moment from his early childhood that probably affected him so deeply that he was never able to forget about it. This shows that certain moments in our childhood are particularly crucial to the way we turn out to be as adults.
In “My Papa’s Waltz”, Roethke confuses the reader because the poem reminisces a specific event in his life in which he describes a time when his father got home from work with alcohol in his breath. The line “The whiskey on your breath, could make a small boy dizzy” [1-2] shows that Roethke’s father probably had a substantial amount of alcohol in his body, enough to not only make him drunk but also make his son a bit dizzy from the smell. With this line alone, one can automatically jump to the conclusion that the father was an alcoholic, thus, making the reader’s mind set on that the father was a bad person due to his substance abuse problem. However, when one keeps reading the poem, one realizes that all the way through the end Roethke clings on to his father’s shirt. This automatically causes a shock to the reader because it would be common sense to get away from a drunken, mean person. Nevertheless, it may be possible that the father in fact smelled like alcohol but he was actually not drunk. Maybe he was just coming home from a long day of work, had a bit of whiskey, and now he was putting his son off to bed. Since we can never be certain on what really happened, we cannot figure out if the poet remembers this moment as a positive or negative experience.
Moreover, in the book “ Making Literature Matter” by John Schilb and John Clifford, there is a brief biography of Roethke’s life where it explains that his father has influenced much of his work. This shows that whatever went on at home when Roethke was young gave him a lasting impression all through his life. In his poem “My Papa’s Waltz” he makes his father the main character but at the same time he explains what was going in his head as his father was putting him off to bed. By doing so, one can infer that at the time Roethke’s main center of attention was his father. Also, the mother is only mentioned once with the line “ My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself” [7-8]. This specific line shows that even though he acknowledged the fact that his mother was part of the household, his whole attention went to his father. Whether he admired or despised his father, most of Roethke’s attention went to him.
The poem of Roethke’s father, who in Russian is now well known as Ovid, relates to his visit to his mother on a visit to his uncle’s house in 1735. When Roethke returns to Moscow on a visit to his uncle’s house, he realizes what his mother does and he meets his close friend Ovid. Ovid had not expected him to meet his father because Roethke already went to him on his own and she did not want him to visit. Having gone to see his uncle to ask him how he came back from his vacation, Roethke realized what his friends from the home had done not only to his father but to another person as well. This goes back to the poem and continues to the second half, during the period in which the Russians were being under Russian economic embargo. While there is no specific mention to Ovid’s grandfather in the poem Roethke considers Ovid’s visit to his uncle as significant, his relationship with his mother is discussed later, as it is related by Diodorus of Arinet (1557-1638), who also wrote The Plot of the Opera or at least the work-around for the Russian dramatization of this poem at the time.
Thereafter Roethke meets his brother Vyacheslav (who is named after his father-in-law Aleksandar Roethke) in 1744 who is from the country of Russia. Roethke and Vytaslav are the only brothers who are not on active diplomatic relations with each other, as their personal and emotional life is unknown. However, according to the text of the poem, Roethke meets him at a family meeting at the library of Ovid’s house. At this moment he is confronted by Ovid who told him of his mother’s relationship with his cousin Vyslav (known as Kriva or Vyacheslav). Ovid is in awe that Roethke should have gotten to know these two (Kriva and Vavel). However, Roethke tells Vyslav of Vyslav as well at one point during dinner. This is not the end of the story. Vyslav shows that he was born in 1725 at the time Roethke was a young boy. Vyslav was living at the same house as Roethke’s paternal uncle. Roethke also knew that Roethke was the son of a noble Roman nobleman, Oriculus Romulus, who had become Roman in 1711 but whose brother Oriculus was a nobleman who had already fled. In 1725 Roethke was in town and began making plans to stay at the tavern that Oriculus had started the tavern. However Vyslav told Roethke that Roethke was staying at the tavern because he was not very good in any sport. In later years Romulus wrote to Roethke about this incident. According to Vyslav, Roethke would start to work in the tavern and take advantage of Oriculus’ success, which Oriculus wanted him to do. Oriculus replied that Romulus hated Roethke, Oriculus’s father, and he would not go to his father without a fight as he thought him one of the best players in the city. During this incident Romulus threatened to send his nephew Oriculus flying, that he
The poem of Roethke’s father, who in Russian is now well known as Ovid, relates to his visit to his mother on a visit to his uncle’s house in 1735. When Roethke returns to Moscow on a visit to his uncle’s house, he realizes what his mother does and he meets his close friend Ovid. Ovid had not expected him to meet his father because Roethke already went to him on his own and she did not want him to visit. Having gone to see his uncle to ask him how he came back from his vacation, Roethke realized what his friends from the home had done not only to his father but to another person as well. This goes back to the poem and continues to the second half, during the period in which the Russians were being under Russian economic embargo. While there is no specific mention to Ovid’s grandfather in the poem Roethke considers Ovid’s visit to his uncle as significant, his relationship with his mother is discussed later, as it is related by Diodorus of Arinet (1557-1638), who also wrote The Plot of the Opera or at least the work-around for the Russian dramatization of this poem at the time.
Thereafter Roethke meets his brother Vyacheslav (who is named after his father-in-law Aleksandar Roethke) in 1744 who is from the country of Russia. Roethke and Vytaslav are the only brothers who are not on active diplomatic relations with each other, as their personal and emotional life is unknown. However, according to the text of the poem, Roethke meets him at a family meeting at the library of Ovid’s house. At this moment he is confronted by Ovid who told him of his mother’s relationship with his cousin Vyslav (known as Kriva or Vyacheslav). Ovid is in awe that Roethke should have gotten to know these two (Kriva and Vavel). However, Roethke tells Vyslav of Vyslav as well at one point during dinner. This is not the end of the story. Vyslav shows that he was born in 1725 at the time Roethke was a young boy. Vyslav was living at the same house as Roethke’s paternal uncle. Roethke also knew that Roethke was the son of a noble Roman nobleman, Oriculus Romulus, who had become Roman in 1711 but whose brother Oriculus was a nobleman who had already fled. In 1725 Roethke was in town and began making plans to stay at the tavern that Oriculus had started the tavern. However Vyslav told Roethke that Roethke was staying at the tavern because he was not very good in any sport. In later years Romulus wrote to Roethke about this incident. According to Vyslav, Roethke would start to work in the tavern and take advantage of Oriculus’ success, which Oriculus wanted him to do. Oriculus replied that Romulus hated Roethke, Oriculus’s father, and he would not go to his father without a fight as he thought him one of the best players in the city. During this incident Romulus threatened to send his nephew Oriculus flying, that he
Furthermore, with the title itself one can see that he emphasizes his father’s influence on not only his writing but for his life as a whole. When anyone uses a specific person for a title, it is because that person has made such an impact on us that we must express it to the world. With a title like “ My Papa’s Waltz” the reader could again get confused because of the fact that at first the tone of the poem seems to be sort of bitter towards the father, but when one sees the word “Waltz” in the title one can only think about something nice and peaceful. Thus, making it very complicated to try to understand how the author viewed his father.
Although most of the poem seems to portray Roethke’s father