Michael Kelly English comp 1
5/13/15 Final Paper

In this English compensation class I really enjoyed two specific poems that I will be discussing here. My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke and also Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden. These two poems really stuck out while reading because I can relate to both poems in the same but also in different ways. I think both poems are similar but My Papa’s Waltz has a different identity than Those Winter Sundays.

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden was written in the year of 1962. The Poem is about a son’s relationship with his father. The setting takes place like the title, a winter Sunday early in the morning. His father is up early warming up the house with a fire like he does every Sunday. It’s something nice the dad does for the family, because he works all week and Sunday is his only day off but he’s the first one out of bed. The father even polishes the narrator’s shoes as a kid. The narrator seems a little bit scared and confused by his father’s actions in the morning. During the final stanzas in the poem as an adult he figures out that it was his way of showing his love for him. He works all week but still will do all those things on his day off because he loves and cares for his son. The sad thing about the poem is that the Narrator never thanked his Father for those king gestures.

My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke was written in 1942. It tells the story of a child who loved but also was scared and fearful of his father. In the Poem the father seems to be a bit of A drunk and the Narrator isn’t a big fan of this because he is scared of his father. This gives the hint that his father isn’t the greatest guy when drinking, so that’s probably where the fear comes into play. The Waltz comes into the story because that’s the dance the father is attempting to do with his son but it seems that the son and the mother isn’t thrilled because he’s making a mess of the house. Another reason why the son may be scared of the father is because when the dance is messed up the narrator is getting his ear scraped against his father’s belt. The loving factor might come into bed because in the end the father is bringing his son to bed and the narrator doesn’t want to let go. So he might be enjoying his time with the father since it seems that he doesn’t get much time with him. It really shows even though he was getting scrapped during the dance he loves his dad very much because of the clinginess he was being towards his father.

In both of the poems My Papa’s Waltz and Those Winter Sundays they have their similarities and their differences. One of the obvious similarities they have is that both poems are based on father and son relationships. It’s an easy one to spot out but it is an important one to notice. They also both love and are scared of their dad is another comparison I made when reading these two poems. I also noticed that they both seem to be unhappy stories for the narrators when writing these poems but different for the situations. For Those Winter Sundays it seems that the narrator is sad about his relationship with his dad because he