Poetry Essay

Father and son relationships can be complicated. Both, “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “My Papa's Waltz” by Theodore Roethke show a father and son relationship, but each poem’s tone makes us think and feel differently about the father’s relationship with his child. “My Papas Waltz” is very happy, playful and fun relationship. In “Those Winter Sundays” the tone is depressing, sad and regretful. Overall, both poems have different tones that make us interpret the characters feelings and actions differently.

    In “Those Winter Sundays”, the tone is very sad and depressing because the son is very regretful about his past. For example, in the poem it states, “What did I know/what did I know /of love’s austere and lonely offices.” This shows us the tone of sadness and regret of his past. The speaker reflects on his behaviors and actions towards his father in the past. The speaker also wishes he had been more thankful and grateful to his father. This makes the tone of the poem sound sad and regretful about the father and son’s relationship. Another example is, in the poem it states, “Slowly I would rise and dress/ fearing the chronic angers of the house.” This makes the poem sound very depressing and dark. When the author says, “Fearing the chronic angers of the house” this makes us think of the poem as dark and scary. The author sets a scene like that to show the tone of dark .Therefore, the tone in “Those Winter Sundays” is very sad, dark and full of regret. This makes the father and son relationship regretful.

In "My Papas Waltz" the tone is very happy, playful and fun. For example, in the poem it states, "we romped until pans/slid from the kitchen shelf". " Romped" means to play. The father and the son had fun will they were playing.This shows and makes the poem more fun and lively. The author shows this by writing how the father and son played in the kitchen and they were having fun. Another example in the poem states,      "Then we waltzed me off to bed." This makes the tone sound relaxing because it is about dancing. When the the author says "waltz" it sets a tone of relax and fun because it is very happy and lively. The author in the poem says this not to only show the tone of happy, but to also show the relationship the son and the father had. The relationship is playful and fun because the father is waltzing all throughout the house and while putting his son off to bed.Therefore in "My Papas Waltz" the tone is the opposite of "Those Winter Sundays" it is very happy , playful and Lively because of the actions the father does such as waltzing.

In conclusion, both “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden  and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke both show different types of tones throughout the poem. “Those Winter Sundays” has a depressing and very dark tone and setting through the poem.The father and son’s relationship is very regretful. The son wished he was more thankful and grateful. “My Papa’s Waltz” has a very lively, happy tone and actions through the book. The father and son relationship is very playful and happy. Overall, both poems show different tones that make us feel differently about the father and son relationship.