Comparing My Papa’s Waltz and Listening to grownups quarrel Essay

Comparring My soda waters Waltz and listening to grownups quarrel Poems are often designed to express deep feelings and thoughts about a particular theme. In Theodore Roethkes poem, My Papas Waltz, and Ruth Whitmans poem, Listening to grownups quarreling, the theme of childhood is conveyed through their details, although we can neither see a face nor hear a voice. These poems are very much alike in their ideas of how their memories pertain to the attitudes of their childhood however, the wording and tones of the two poems are distinct in how they present their memories. The two poems can be compared and contrasted through the authors use of tone, imagery, and recollection of events which illustrate each authors memories of childhood.The tone of a poem can only by recognized when reading carefully and paying close attention to the words and what they might suggest. The rhyme scheme of My Papas Waltz is extremely relevant to the poem. For example, in the first stanza dizzy and easy create the rollicking rhythm, as does the following stanzas with the same pattern. The body structure of words create an almost waltz like melody. The phrase we romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf and waltzed me off to bed (Roethke 5-6, 15), convey a pleasant atmosphere to the reader. The title itself creates an cranky attitude with the connection of Papa and waltz. The choice of words and details are used systematically to produce thoughts to the reader of happiness and affection, thus, establishing the tone of this poem.The tone of Listening to grownups quarreling, has a completely different impact. When reading this poem, the reader has a more sad outlook on the thoughts of this authors memories. Whitman uses ... ...nal family. The second poem uses gravelly details described in similes, metaphors, and personification. The message of a horribly bad childhood is clearly defined by the speaker in this poem. Finally, the recollection of events, as described by th e two speakers, is distinguished by the psychological aspect of how these two children grew up. Because the first child grew up in a passive foundation where everything was hush-hush, the speaker described his childhood in that manner trying to make it sound better than what it actually was. The young girl was very forward in describing her deprivation of a real family and did not beat around the bush with her words. It is my conclusion that the elements of tone, imagery, and the recollection of events are relevant to how the reader interprets the message conveyed in a poem which greatly depends on how each element is exposed.