two poem essay

The two poems “My Papas Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and “Those Winter 

Sundays” by Robert Hayden both show a child and father relationship. In “My Papas 

Waltz”, we see an evening with a father and son who are waltzing around the kitchen, 

showing a close relationship. In the poem “Those Winter Sundays” we see a child who 

doesn't realize how much he loves his father. 

In “My Papas Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, the father comes back from work, has 

a drink, and with his child, “we romped until the pans slid from the shelves...” This 

sentence is showing a son and dad waltzing around the kitchen, and having a good time 

with each other. The speaker is showing the reader how much affection the dad has 

towards his son. When the son and father are dancing, the “...mothers continence could 

not unfrown itself.” The speaker is telling us that the mother is annoyed because pans 

were falling from the shelves and they were dancing in the kitchen. When it was time for 

bed the dad “then waltzed me off to bed, still clinging to your shirt.” This shows that the 

child was exhausted after a pleasant and entertaining evening dancing with his father. 

In “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, the father even “sundays too...got 

up early... cracked hands that ached from weekday weather made banked fires blaze” 

This shows the reader that even on his day off, the father still gets up early to heat the 

house so his family would be warm. “No one ever thanked him.” the speaker is showing  

shows that his family took what he did for them for granted.Later as an adult the son 

realizes all that his father had done for him. He “had driven out the cold...polished my 

good shoes as well.” Looking back at all of the things his father had done for him, “what 

did I know, what did I know...” This shows that he should have been grateful for 

everything his father had done for him, and he shouldn't have ignored that. 

These two poems shared many things in common. both families were working 

class, and both fathers did many things to help their children. Both fathers showed their 

love for their children in different ways, such as dancing with them, or keeping them 

warm in the morning by waking up early to make a fire.