Theodore Roethkes My Papas Waltz and Robert Haydens Those Winter Sunday - Essay Example

Absence makes the heart grow fonder in poetry. This essay explores Theodore Roethke’s My Papa’s Waltz and Robert Hayden’s Those Winter Sundays. Thisthesis states that although the poems are autobiographical in nature, time and other variables like adult sentiments have distorted the representation of the past. The adult narrators are kinder in tone, forgiving and seek to understand the childhood experiences. The absence of the domineering father at the point of penning the poem makes the heart grow fonder of the absentee. The transgressions of the past are grossed over and the episodes are written to portray a rosy picture of childhood in the matrimonial home. Theodore Huebner Roethke (1908 – 1963) was an American poet whose poetry was characterized by his trademark literary device of imagery. Robert Hayden (1913 - 1980) was a poet who experienced a difficult childhood as depicted in Those Winter Sundays. The Papa in Roethke’s poem, My Papa’s Waltz, has been drinking heavily enough to reek of whisky in his breathe. This is an image of a son who respects his father and follows his lead even as he has to hang on for dear life. The father who dances with his son has several connotations in symbolism. The positive aspect of this symbolism would be highlighting the father-son bonding that takes place when the father makes time for his son. The negative aspect would be the sexual connotations of two males dancing. Such close proximity might suggest inappropriateness but for the fact that the boy dancer is very young and his head just reached the belt buckle of his Papa’s pants. This juxtaposition again suggests a shade of impropriety. The son evidently worships his Papa for he struggles to hang on like ‘death’ even as the waltz proves difficult to follow. The dance is physical and its vibrations cause the pans to slide from the kitchen shelf. The Papa is not effeminate because he is brave enough to battle with his bare knuckle and he has earned his decoration of a ‘battered’ knuckle. The earlier suspicion of femininity is dismissed. Moreover, the mother is brought into the poem and the picture now becomes a complete family picture. Another interpretation uses the symbolism of the love dance. Balakian says; ‘This love dance, a kind of blood rite between father and son, shows suppressed terror combined with awe-inspired tendency’. (Balakian 62). The child is held like a puppet by an oversized puppeteer. He is a helpless doll in this patriarchal household. Even his mother lacks the influence to rescue him. The poem says; ‘My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself’. The Papa ignores the disapproval of the mother. Robert Hayden’s Those Winter Days narrate Hayden’s painful childhood relationships with his parents and adoptive parents. William says; ‘He described them in “Those Winter Sundays” as the “chronic angers of that house” (line 9)’. (Williams 5). It seems that all the good that the father tries to do is outweighed by the bad. The angers that plagued the house were habitual. There are other literary scholars who choose to read Those Winter Sundays in a positive light. Welsch’s book says that the poem strikes many chords of recognition with her. The father figure is the one who works hard to keep the house warm. Welsch takes pride in the fact that the father has done so much for the family and radiates happiness having such a wonderful father. The tone is positive. The scholar acknowledges the discords in the poem and says that Hayden’s dissatisfaction stems from generation, racial, gender, domestic disputes and other issues. (Welsch 2). Williams’ book has collaborative information that backs up these claims. Haydon experienced the roughest kind of childhood that can be imagined. The adverse conditions described in the poem are elaborated upon in this essay. Haydon hints that there is a form of child abuse present. In spite of the father’s hard work rising early to warm the rooms, the narrator writes; ‘slowly I would rise and dress,’, because he dreads facing his father. The rooms are made warm for the purpose of awakening the occupants, disallowing the child to sleep late into the morning. The child is not happy because he has communicated his anticipations of ‘chronic angers’. He is forced to face possible repercussions of the ‘chronic angers’ when he rises so he chooses to lie in bed for as long as he is allowed to before his father summons him to get up from bed. In other words, he hides from his tormentor. The poem has depicted the father in a kind way while allaying blame for the distant relationship on the narrator. The truth is that Haydon was adversely affected by the troubles of his biological and adoptive parents but has written only about the strict (austere) love in his poem. The last line says at that time frame of this childhood memory, the narrator was too young to understand and know the true meaning of his father’s discipline and love. The poet reiterates; ‘What did I know, what did I know’ to emphasize his ignorance in his youth. This essay explores the comparisons between the two chosen poems. Both poems have been written in retrospection. My Papa’s Waltz and Those Winter Days present childhood memories. There are differences in the images and tones of these two poems. My Papa’s Waltz is a happier poem than Those Winter Days. The father is rough and beats time on his son’s head, showing playful love to his son. This maybe hinting of physical abuse but the son is too enraptured of his Papa’s love to care about being taken advantage of. The Papa’s palm is moulded by hardship. The son cannot bear to be parted from his fun loving Papa, even if it is just for the night. This Papa has been accorded credit for helping to put his son to bed. Furthermore, the poet suggests that the boy is ‘Still clinging to your shirt’ because he longs to play with Papa some more. Those Winter Days presents the image of a serious father figure. This father is similar to the Papa in Roethke’s poem. He also faces hard labor but he shows practical love in his care for his son’s physical needs of warmth and shiny shoes. The son recalls the most moving childhood memories of his father as hardworking, unassuming and dedicated. However, the son does not appreciate his father’s acts of love. This is a serious portrayal of his father. In contrast, the Papa in My Papa’s Waltz is a carefree man who does not care that his playful waltz dancing has dislodged the kitchen pans from the shelf. This Papa is portrayed as a carefree man. The son in My Papa’s Waltz is oblivious to any hint of irritation or bullying. The son in Those Winter Days regrets his indifferent treatment of his father when he reflects back on this piece of childhood memory. Haydon’s narrator thought that he was being abused and thus treated his father ‘indifferently’. There is a complete absence of a mother in Those Winter Sundays. The tone of the narrator in the poem is cold. The images present a cold, distant relationship between a faithful father who fails to win the love of his son. The austere love suggests images of a strict and uncompromising father. Both poems have adult narrators who regret to some extent their childhood experiences. Despite the seemingly tumultuous conditions, the conclusions of the poems state love, forgiveness, lamentations and regret for the chances lost to change or redeem the prevalent set of circumstances. Does time blur the width and depth of the memories and render them benign? Were the childhood experiences that traumatic or were they exaggerated from figments of imagination? The scholars who have studied the poets’ biographies claim that the poems reflect the poets’ lives. However, the poems are diluted versions of the actual realism experienced by the poets. The adult narrators reminiscence about the past and their maturity enables them to extend their forgiveness to their fathers. Thus, the human virtues and sentiments influence the record of personal history in poems. The end. Works Cited. Balakian, Peter. Theodore Roethkes Far Fields: The Evolution of His Poetry. USA: LSU Press, 1989. Kusch, Robert. My Toughest Mentor: Theodore Roethke and William Carlos Williams (1940-1948). USA: Bucknell University Press, 1999. Pack, Robert. Belief and Uncertainty in the Poetry of Robert Frost. USA: UPNE, 1993. Welsh, Kathleen. Those Winter Sundays: Female Academics and Their Working-Class Parents. USA: University Press of America, 2005. Williams, Pontheolla T. Robert Hayden: A Critical Analysis of His Poetry. USA: University of Illinois Press, 1987. Read More