Comparing Those Winter Sundays to My Papa’s Waltz

Battered Memories: Child and Father Relationships In “Those Winter Sundays” and “My Papa’s Waltz”

“Sundays too my father got up early and / And put his clothes on in the blueback cold” comes from Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” and describes the life of the speaker who reminisces of the childhood experiences that were spent with the speaker’s father (1-2). “At every step you missed / My right ear scraped a buckle” comes from Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz and also exemplifies a past relationship between a child and father (11-2). Despite the many similarities that exist between Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” the tone, diction, and poetic devices that are used in each poem convey different meanings.

The tone in “My Papa’s Waltz” is very depressing and reflective, which establishes a sense of longing to readers. When recalling past experiences while speaking to his father the speaker remembers how his father “ . . . beat time on [the speaker’s] head / With a palm caked hard by dirt . . . [with the speaker] still clinging to [his father’s] shirt” (13-4, 16). Even though the speaker still feels both the mental and physical stress that has been inflicted upon him by his father, the love that he possesses for his father does not die, which helps to establish the speaker’s sense of longing. The fact that the speaker still clings to his father’s shirt instead of fighting back exemplifies that this is the only type of love that the speaker is familiar with. The choice of words that are used in the poem also illustrate how much past experiences effect the speaker’s life in the present.

The diction in “My Papa’s Waltz” allows readers to get a better understanding of the speaker’s childhood experiences. The speaker remembers and describes his younger experiences with his father and how they “ . . . romped until the pans / Slid from the shelf” (7-8). The speaker is also devastated by the fact that “The hand that held [his] wrist / Was battered on one knuckle” (9-10). The usage of the words and the phrase “romp”, “battered”, and “the hand that held my wrist” helps convey and places emphasis on the dramatic and abusive relationship that exists between the speaker and his father. The usage of these words through comparisons and other poetic devices also allows readers to get better understandings of the relationship between the speaker and the speaker’s father.

Roethke’s usage of poetic devices place emphasis on the conditions in which the speaker experiences as a young child. Although the whiskey on the father of the speaker’s breath is very strong, the speaker continuously “ . . .hung on like death” (3) and candidly states that “Such waltzing was not easy” (4). The usage of simile by comparing the speaker’s clinging of his father’s shirt to death places emphasis on the feelings and emotions that are present in the household. Knowing that his “ . . . mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself” is an example of imagery that further adds to the turmoil and negative events that exist in the speaker’s home by allowing readers to visualize the facial expressions that are present (7-8). Not only do the poetic devices contribute to the meaning of the poem, but it also contributes to the tone as well.

The tone in “Those Winter Sundays” is also reflective, yet it establishes a sense of guilt and remorse. The speaker questions inwardly by wondering “What [he] kn[e]w / . . .

of love’s austere and lonely offices” as a young child, which creates a sense of guilt and conveys ignorance about the realities and difficulties that may develop as a result of life’s experiences (13-4). When remembering the hard work and achievements made by his father, the speaker