My Papa’s Waltz 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. Those Winter Sundays Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he’d call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices? Zhexin Zhang Professor Anderson English 101 5/12/2019 Nowadays, the relationship between children and their parents is declining gradually. Family environment and family education play a very important role in a child's growth and their entire life. An undesirable family environment and education can result in several possible negative effects on children such as developing bad habits, leaving terrible childhood memory for them and children’s misunderstanding for their parents. “My Papa’s Waltz” written by Theodore Roethke depicts a story in which a father who like to drink alcohol and play waltz with his son. “My Papa’s Waltz” is author’s memory about his alcoholic father and his childhood. “Those Winter Sundays” written by Robert Hayden depicts a story in which a father did loads of things silently for his family and it also displays the guilty and regret of his son for him because he never said thanks to his father. “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” both underscore the relationship between father and son. The relationship between farther and son in “My Papa’s Waltz” differs a lot from that in the “Those Winter Sundays”. The importance of the relationship between father and son could be implied by comparing the word choice, imagery and characterization of “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” .Communication, a proper role model and family atmosphere promote the establishment of a good relationship between parents and children. Difference of relationship between father and son in different families is implied in the authors’ words choice in “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” . Roethke says, “The whiskey on your breath” (199). Author uses “breath” which shows that his father is addictive for drinking and his father drinks overloaded that day. Roethke states, “ Could make a small boy dizzy” (199). Author uses “dizzy” to shows that the smell of whiskey is bad, and it makes this small boy feel very uncomfortable. His f ...

1. My Papa’s Waltz
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.
Those Winter Sundays
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,

2. who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
Zhexin Zhang
Professor Anderson
English 101
5/12/2019
Nowadays, the relationship between children and their parents
is declining gradually. Family environment and family
education play a very important role in a child's growth and
their entire life. An undesirable family environment and
education can result in several possible negative effects on
children such as developing bad habits, leaving terrible
childhood memory for them and children’s misunderstanding for
their parents. “My Papa’s Waltz” written by Theodore Roethke
depicts a story in which a father who like to drink alcohol and
play waltz with his son. “My Papa’s Waltz” is author’s memory
about his alcoholic father and his childhood. “Those Winter
Sundays” written by Robert Hayden depicts a story in which a
father did loads of things silently for his family and it also
displays the guilty and regret of his son for him because he
never said thanks to his father. “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those
Winter Sundays” both underscore the relationship between
father and son. The relationship between farther and son in “My
Papa’s Waltz” differs a lot from that in the “Those Winter
Sundays”. The importance of the relationship between father
and son could be implied by comparing the word choice,
imagery and characterization of “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those
Winter Sundays” .Communication, a proper role model and
family atmosphere promote the establishment of a good
relationship between parents and children.
Difference of relationship between father and son in different
families is implied in the authors’ words choice in “My Papa’s

3. Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” . Roethke says, “The
whiskey on your breath” (199). Author uses “breath” which
shows that his father is addictive for drinking and his father
drinks overloaded that day. Roethke states, “ Could make a
small boy dizzy” (199). Author uses “dizzy” to shows that the
smell of whiskey is bad, and it makes this small boy feel very
uncomfortable. His father is a drunkard and he always drinks
alcohol in large volume. In some way, this drunken father
leaves a bad memory for a small boy. Author says, “But I hung
on like death” (199). The word “death” in the sentence shows
that a small boy tries his best to grab his father in order to keep
balance. It also displays the fear and nervousness of a little boy
of his drunken father. A sense of security is important for a
child, however, this boy can’t get this sense form his father. A
lack of security and even the feeling of fear for patents can
alienate children from their parents both physically and
psychologically. When Roethke was a little boy, he was afraid
of his father because his father was a drunkard. Hayden says,
“When the rooms were warm, he’d call” (436). Hayden’s father
was very concerned about his son which made him get up early
to made the room warm in order to allow his son get up easier.
The father doesn’t want his son to get up in a cold and early
morning. Hayden uses “warm” and “call” in this sentence.
Although the dialogue between the father and the son is not
described in detail, it shows the harmony between the father and
the son as well as a common and simple father-son relationship.
Hayden says, “No one ever thanked him” (436). His father
sacrificed himself to his family silently and all his efforts were
meaning to improve his families’ life condition. However, the
son never thanked his father. Hayden states, “What did I know,
What did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices” (436). As
an adult, the author could finally understand his father's silent
love and his sacrifice as well as dedication to his family.
Although Roethke lacked love from his father in his childhood
and he was afraid of his father, he still longed for his father's
love.

4. The characters in “Those Winter Sundays” and “My Papa’s
Waltz” have distinct personality traits. There are three
characters in “My Papa’s Waltz”. Roethke states, “The whiskey
on your breath” (199). Roethke’s father is addicted to alcohol
which made him an alcoholic father who has a negative effect
on the development of his son. A good role model is important
for a little boy, however his father fail to set himself as a good
role model for Roethke. Boys tend to mimic the behavior of
their fathers and and when he grew up, they have a high
possibility to drink overloaded. Roethke says, “With a palm
caked hard by dirt” (200). It shows that his father is a worker or
gardener by describing father's hands were dirty and muddy.
This heavy work made father do not have enough time to stay
with his son. Many fathers are always forced to spend most of
their time on their works in that they are taking the
responsibility to support the whole family. This also makes
some of them ignore the importance of their father's company to
their children. Roethke says, “My right ear scraped a buckle”
(199). It is painful for a child to have his ears scratched by a
buckle. After drinking a great amount of alcohol, his father
became very rude and violent without considering the feelings
of this little boy and hurt this small boy. The small boy’s
mother also appears in the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”, but she is
involved not in it and his mother chooses to do nothing although
she knows that the drunken father may hurt this little boy. This
son lives in a negative and unhealthy family environment
because his father is a drunkard and he never spends time to
take care of his son. In addition, his mother doesn’t take
responsibility to protect his son when he may get hurt. There is
only two characters in the “Those Winter Sundays”. The father
in the poem “Those Winter Sundays” is a far cry from that in
the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”. Hayden says, “Sundays too my
father got up early” (436). His father always gets up early no
matter it is weekdays or weekends. Hayden states, “then with
cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather
made banked fires blaze” (436). The cracked hands imply that

5. his father is a worker who works in a bad working condition.
Although this father does not have a respectable job and a
profitable position, he works very hard in order to support his
family. He always acted as a selfless provider for the entire
family. He gets up early in the cold winter morning to make the
house warm. He tries to provide a better living environment and
condition for his son, and he never asks for anything in return
from his family members. Although he might be thanked
explicitly by no one, he still insists on keeping the house safe
and warm for his family. The son in “My Papa’s Waltz” grew up
in a violent family environment without his father's love and
companionship. By Comparison, the son in “Those Winter
Sundays” live in a warm and happy family environment.
Authors of “Those Winter Sundays” and “My Papa’s Waltz” use
loads of words to describe imagery so as to show the
relationships between father and son. Roethke writes, “We
romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf” (199). The
“Waltz” is very loud and makes a mess in the kitchen. The
father has drunk too much whiskey which makes it difficult for
him to control his emotions and behaviors. After drinking
whiskey in great amount, he may beat and hurt his son but not
on purpose. After being beaten by his father, the son develops
more sense of fear for his father. Roethke states, “Then waltzed
me off to bed still cling to your shirt. The son still clings to his
father's clothes even after he falls asleep. The small boy feels
very scared and nervous after being beaten by his father which
makes him want to cling to something. Hayden uses imagery to
show another kind of relationship between father and son.
Hayden says, “and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold”
(436). Although the weather was very cold, the father persists
on getting up early every day to keep the house warm for his
family. Hayden says, “fearing the chronic angers of that house”
(436). The house gradually becomes very warm in that the
father does not want his son to get up in a cold morning like the
way he did. So he calls his son to get up until the house become
warm. The father is considerate, and his action speaks louder

6. than words. Hayden says, “What did I know, what did I know of
love’s austere and lonely offices” (436). It shows the gratitude
and regret of the son for his father because he never thanked his
selfless father in his childhood. His father's love for him was
simple and unselfish. Although his father did not express his
love in an explicit manner and concern for his son in words, he
expressed his love for his son by his actions. The father's
actions and habits impose a considerable influence on the
relationship between father and son. The violent behavior
conducted by the alcoholic father made his son afraid of being
close to his father and son is expected to be estranged from his
fathers. The father in “Those Winter Sundays” uses his selfless
action to narrow the distance between him and his son.
“My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem which tells a story in which
a boy who grows up in a violent and worse family, and whose
father and mother are both irresponsible. “Those Winter
Sundays” is a poem which is about austere and close
relationship between father and son. This boy grows up in a
warm and happy family. Hayden and Roethke use some writing
techniques such as word choices, character and imagery in their
poems in order to show the theme that father’s love and warm
family environment are both important for children. The boy
who lives in a violent and irresponsible family would be afraid
of his father and lack sense of security. The boy who lives in a
warm and happy family thanked his parents’ love. The authors
hope that all parents could take the responsiblity for their
children and provide them with a warm and happy environment
in which they could grow up happily.
Work Cited
Roethke, Theodore. “My Papa’s Waltz.” The Carolina Reader.
Edited by Kelsey Flint-Martin with Ethan J.H. Knight. Uofsc
press, 2019, pp 199-200.
Hayden, Robert. “Those Winter Sundays.” The Carolina Reader.
Edited by Kelsey Flint-Martin with Ethan J.H. Knight. Uofsc
press, 2019, pp 436.