My Papa's Waltz

Theodore Roethke

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.

1. Identify the rhyme scheme of the poem

2. Identify 7 example of diction and state each word's connotation.

“waltzing” dancing

“romped” stomping

“unfrown” unhappy

“battered” bruised

“beat” rhythm

“clinging” hanging on

3. Identify 3 sound devices in the poem

Alliteration- “Slid from the kitchen shelf”

Assonance- “With a palm caked hard by dirt”

Consonance- “Still clinging to your shirt”

4. Identify 3 images in the poem

“The whiskey on your breath”

Olfactory

“We romped until the pans”

Visual

“My right ear scraped a buckle.”

Tactile

5. After examining your evidence, state the speaker's attitude toward his father. Justify your answer.

The speaker’s attitude toward his father is joy. Even though his father is drunk, he is still having a fun time dancing with him.