Robert Haydens My Papas Waltz and Those Winter Sundays: Fathers and Sons - Essay Example

“My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays Fathers and Sons. Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays,” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” are both poems which poignantly depict the father-son relationship. At first reading, except for this obvious similarity in theme, the two poems appear to be very different. Hayden’s poem is a stark description of a cold house on a winter Sunday. There is no direct interaction between the child and the father. On the other hand, Roethke’s poem is filled with action which takes place in the warm kitchen, and the child is literally in the arms of the father. However, a closer reading demonstrates several similarities in the poems. Both the narrators are young boys who describe a small incident in their childhood. These little vignettes mirror the entire father-son relationship of the two pairs. Although the point of view, image and diction used in “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” depict contrasts in character, scene and mood, both poems are similar in highlighting the deep love which characterizes the father-son relationship. The point of view in the poems shows the contrasting characters of the fathers. Both “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” are narrated from the point of view of the little boys. The poems are seen through the lens of memory, when the narrators look back on childhood scenes from the perspective of adults. Although the poems are superficially plain to understand, there is a hidden complexity in the voice of the speakers. Roethke’s little boy portrays his father as a large man, living life to the full and exuding a joie-de-vivre which is captivating to a child. His father dances, romps with gay abandon and keeps time with the rhythm of the waltz by beating time on his son’s head. Underlying this happiness is the adult’s criticism of the father who does not perceive that his son is made dizzy with the fumes of “The whiskey on your breath” (Roethke, 1) and hurt by the buckle which scrapes his ear. “The ambivalence of feeling extends to the narrative stance of the speaker” as a child and adult (Fong, 78). In contrast, Hayden’s voice is subdued, and conveys the impression of his father as an austere, silent man, who does not give in to lingering in bed even on a Sunday morning. The reticence of the father results in the child “speaking indifferently to him” (Hayden, 9). However, the adult narrator is deeply aware of “the great hurt of the recollection” (Gallagher, 245) of his cruel indifference and the entire poem is suffused with the voice of regret. The image of the poems depicts completely different scenes. “My Papa’s Waltz” is set in the kitchen and there is an impression of intimate warmth. The room is filled with family: the father, the mother and the child. The image is that of a home in which there is close interaction among the members. The picture of kitchen shelves stacked with pots and pans suggests the comfort of food. The image of the father carrying the little boy to bed conveys the impression that the child is accustomed to being put to sleep by the father – an expression of parental concern and time spent together. In contrast, the image of “Those Winter Sundays” is one of uncompromising cold. The house appears to be empty; there is no sign of the mother. Even when the father “made banked fires blaze,” (Hayden, ---4/5), the cold persists as “The warmth of the fire does not penetrate the atmosphere” (Gallgher, 245). The all-pervasive cold is not only physical but also extends to the cold indifference of the little boy to his father. The diction used in “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” effectively portrays the mood of the poems. In “My Papa’s Waltz,” “the rollicking rhythms of the poem; the playfulness of a rime like dizzy and easy; the joyful suggestions of the words waltz, waltzing, and romped” (Fong, 78), all indicate a little boy’s joy in this play with his father. The line, “Could not unfrown itself” (7/8), is appealingly child-like in the choice of word. Unlike Roethke’s fast-paced diction, Hayden’s poem is in slow free verse. However, the tension of the cold house, filled with “chronic angers” (Hayden, 8), is given its brittle sound with the use of hard consonants like blueblack, cracked, ached, weekday, banked, thanked, wake, breaking, call, and chronic. These harsh, short words sound like whiplashes and add to the “starkness that pervades the poem” (Gallagher, 245). Hayden’s poem avoids the comfortable cadence of rhyme. While Roethke’s “My Papa,” has the overtones of intimacy, Hayden’s “My Father” sounds formal – both appropriately echo the tone of the respective poems. In spite of their differences in character, scene and mood, “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” are similar in their portrayal of the deep love which underlies the father-son relationship in both poems. Roethke’s little boy is ready to accept the whisky fumes as they make his father “tipsy enough so that exuberance and love could slip through” (Fong, 78). Right through the dizziness of the poem, the boy “hung on like death” (Roethke, 3). In spite of his fear the child “remains clinging with persistent love” (Fong, 78). Hayden’s little boy is now the adult who is aware “of love’s austere and lonely offices” (Hayden, 12). With the hindsight of age and experience, comes the realization that “the services that the father is rendering have all the potential for tenderness” (Gallagher, 245). Both the poems demonstrate the pain of separation of a son from his father: Roethke clings on to his father, in defiance of any possible parting, and Hayden laments “What did I know, what did I know” (Hayden, 11) in his regret that he is now apart from his father and cannot make amends for past indifference. Unspoken love is the theme which binds both the poems. In the final analysis, “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” are affirmations of love. Works Cited. Fong, Bobby. “Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz.”” College Literature. Vol. 17, No. 1 (Winter, 1990). 78. Web. http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.utulsa.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9609111563&site=ehost-live Gallagher, Anne M. “Hayden’s Those Winter Sundays.” Explicator, 51 (4), 245. Web. http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.utulsa.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9311187621&site=ehost-live Hayden, Robert. “Those Winter Sundays.” Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page of entry. Print. Roethke, Theodore. “My Papa’s Waltz.” Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page of entry. Print. http://0-se http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.utulsa.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9311187621&site=ehost-livearch.ebscohost.com.library.utulsa.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9311187621&site=ehost-live Read More