My Papa's Waltz BY THEODORE ROETHKE

When we read through My Papa's Waltz in class I wanted to express myself through Roethke's poem but didn't know how. I was conflicted as to how I felt about the poem after our discussions in class. I liked the idea of the father and son playing together and causing a ruckus all in good nature, but I was having trouble getting past some of the darker images I found in the poem. So I expressed it the best way I could—through music. I tried to create a Waltz feel that starts in a major key and shifts to a minor Dorian key. Now, I see the poem as constantly changing just like many father and son relationships. The son learns to let his father lead the waltz in my song, and he follows through major and minor, knowing that it would cause unwanted trouble to try changing the key himself. I don't know if the poem is about clean fun or physical abuse, but I've concluded that for me—it's about the changes in the movements of a relationship's waltz.

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