In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke the speaker is that of a grown man who speaks about his childhood with his drunken father. The attitude of the grown man seems to be ironic therefore giving this poem an ironic tone. The poem's tone is ironic because the title portrays that the poem will be upbeat while the poem is about a grown man remembering bad memories of his drunken father.
Throughout "My Papa's Waltz" there are many different lines showing the audience that the speakers father was harmful which contributes to the ironic tone of the poem. For example when the speaker says "The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle;" which shows the readers that his father was abusive and his memories were not pleasant. This contributes to the ironic tone because at the same time the father and son are "waltzing" which is supposed to be a dance of love.
Thanks Samantha.
ReplyDeleteIf these were the first two paragraphs of an essay handed in to me I would say that the introductory paragraph needs to give me more of a sense of scope. What arguments will you be using to support your assertion that this poem is ironic?
In all your writing, be wary of phrases like "seems to be." Don't use phrases that undermine the confidence of your argument--be sure of what you're arguing. Use phrases like "seems to be" only when your argument is that the truth is NOT what it seems, as in: "This poem seems to be cheerful, but in fact is not."