Option 3 "My Papa's Waltz" This poem is about at boy who has an unusual time being close to his Papa. The terms used are contradictory because the description the "Waltz" seems almost abusive. "Every step you missed / my right ear scraped your buckle" Indicates that the father is very drunk and has a grip on the boy, the boy's ear is as tall as his father's belt buckle and he is insisting on doing this dance which drags the boy around. Also there is reference to the mother being very angry with this behavior, "My mothers countenance / could not unfrown itself" she is clearly upset from this statement and the boy is aware of that but he holds on. Although its hard he enjoys it because it makes his dad happy. The last stanza is rather sad because there is a longing for the boy to be close to the father however painful it may be
You beat me on the head
with a palm caked hard with dirt
Then waltzed me off to bed
still clinging to your shirt
the beating on the boys head is to the beat of the music and the reader understands that loving this man is painful but to the boy its worth it, he does not want to let go of him all the way to his bed he holds on to the father's shirt and does not want to let go.
Deb where did you find the entry info for blog 10?
ReplyDeleteDeb I really liked your insight on the poem! That is exactly what I got when I read the poem. To me, the boy was in fact being abused by his father. I really liked how you said that the boy finds this time with his father close and continues to "dance" with him because it makes his father happy. I didn't see it like that when I read it but it makes a lot of sense. I felt like the boy was blocking the abuse that his father was doing to him so he thought of the abuse as a sort of routine dance. The say you said that it was in fact a dance but it was a rough abusive dance due to his father being drunk gave me another understanding of the poem. I really liked your response.
ReplyDeleteI like your response it gave me another way of viewing certain lines. especially the line " you beat me on the head" my initial thought along the lines of straight physical abuse, but the beating coinciding with the beat of the music is very observant. Also when you pointed out the boys ear on the buckle, it convinced me even more that the dad was really dancing because i did not catch that part.
ReplyDeleteHi Deb! This poem is depressing because it sounds like the speaker (a boy) is being abused by his alcoholic father, so the first stanza introduces the reader to the scenario full of violence and alcohol. Also, it says that this scene is commonly lived in the boy's house. The poem is interesting because it exposes in a beutiful way a sad situation consequence of an abusive father because of whiskey. It's a contrasting idea that a such awful scene was described in such way, but there is another contrasting idea, and it is the feeling of the boy about his father because even though the boy is abused, he still loving his father. I like your post.
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