Relationships

3. Compare and Contrast “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke to “American Primitive” by William Jay Smith. Look for comparisons in structure and theme and in tone. The tone may help you to identify the respective relationships between the narrator’s and their fathers.
 

My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke

 

The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.

 

 

American Primitive William Jay Smith

Look at him there in his stovepipe hat,
His high-top shoes, and his handsome collar;
Only my Daddy could look like that,
And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.

The screen door bangs, and it sounds so funny--
There he is in a shower of gold;
His pockets are stuffed with folding money,
His lips are blue, and his hands feel cold.

He hangs in the hall by his black cravat,
The ladies faint, and the children holler:
Only my Daddy could look like that,
And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.

 

Write a poem that relects a relationship you have to a significant other. Be sure to create setting by placing your subject in a definable space and time.