Demitrius
Hilerio Class 707 Literary
Essay
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1
There are two poems that have the same
theme and have something in common. These poems are “Those Winter Sundays” by
Robert Hayden and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke. These poems are about
fathers that are in the working class. And even though these fathers are in the
working class they still express their love and in general love their close
ones. These fathers express their love to their children in different ways but
they both succeed.
In the poem “Those Winter Sundays” by
Robert Hayden we’re introduce to the father of the speaker in the poem. The
speaker’s father is in the working class (As mentioned in the introduction). In
the poem the readers infer the father works a lot and very hard because
according to the text the father has “…cracked hand s that ached/from labor;”
The author described the father’s hands to give the reader a hint about the
father’s job and it takes a toll on him physically. Not only does the father work
a lot but he also does many things for his family. In the poem the speaker
thinks about the regret for not thanking his father for the things his father
did. “…made/banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.”, This quote explains
that the father got no appreciation from anyone in the house hold and the
speaker regrets not thanking his father. 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?” The author included this part
in the poem to inform the reader that the father does many things and works for
the family because he loves them and wants them to live in a hard time like the
one they’re in.
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2
In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore
Roethke” we’re introduced to a father that is in the working class and likes to
drink a little bit of alcohol after work as seen in the first sentence in
paragraph one. “The whiskey on your breath/could make a small boy dizzy;” Paragraph
two says “We romped until the pans/slid from the kitchen shelf ;” This quote
means that the father drinks alcohol but still has fun with his son (the
speaker) by dancing with him. Later in the poem it says “The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;” and “With a palm caked hard by
dirt;” The author gives a physical description of the father’s hands to show
how his job has effected physically and to make the reader infer that the
father does work hard for his family. The father expresses his love to his by
dancing and having fun in more of a playful way.
These two poems are
related because they both contain working class fathers. These poems teach no
matter what a close person to you does they still love you. In “Those Winter
Sundays” by Robert Hayden the father expresses his love by working a lot and
doing lots of stuff to make his family’s life much more easier. And in “My
Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke the father expresses his love through dancing
with his son in a playful way. From this it’s clear these two poems are
similar.
