Introduction
From an analysis of the three poems, it is evident that they all try to reflect on the memories of the poets’ parents. Imagery is a common technique that the three poets use in conjunction with the present tense. Considerably, the present tense is trying to put the reader in the current situation of the poets. The poets try to express their emotional feelings towards their parents in their childhood and the contrasts of the aftermaths.
In a review, we can say that the theme of remembrance is brought out. Truly, remembrance is something unavoidable. It is fantastic to remember about the past, and that is why the poets are very emotional and tend to regret the decisions they took. However, by remembering, we can improve on our decisions and become better persons. Finally, we can talk about the rhyme technique used by poets.
Analysis
In the poem “my papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, the rhyme technique sets the tone of this poem. It would bring out what waltz is like if the poem is read aloud. Using imagery, the poet tries to reveal the nasty behaviors his father had in the past.
The author accepts his father’s condition saying that it is unenviable just like death. It is evident that his father was a source of embarrassment to the speaker (Roethke, 2001). In a particular phrase, he quotes that “a boy could fall dizzy from the whiskey smell” (P 1).
From the poem ‘The courage that my mother had,’ Millay is quick to talk about the mother’s courage up to her ultimate transition (Millay, 2007). Symbolism and imagery are shown when the speaker talks of the “rock” quarried in New Zealand. It portrays the hardness and the unmoving nature of the mom.
Like in the other poems, rhyme is brought out. For instance, the speaker rhymes words such as ‘still’ and ‘hill,’ more and more. A rhyme scheme of (A, B, A, B, C, D, D, C) is brought out.
Raymond Carver who is the speaker of the poem “Photograph of my father in his twenty-second year” is looking at a picture if his dad at his twenties. The poem describes his father as a young and embarrassed character. Through his struggle as shown in the fifteen lines, the poet can compress his emotions and his conflicting ideas about his father. The father has photographed in jeans, and a dull shirt with “his old hat cocked over his ear” (p. 234).
Beside him is a 1934 Ford on which he is leaning (Carver, 2000). He holds a “pit of Carlsbad beer with thorny yellow drinking straw on the other hand” (p. 234).T through this imagery, the reader can easily connect the theme of reality against appearance that the speaker is trying to prove. The speaker compares the appearance of this picture and wishes that his father became a real gentleman to guide him to the real needs of a man.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that our memories are an important part of our lives as depicted by the above speakers. There is a great lesson learned in the present regardless of how our expectations were met in the past.
In the poem ‘the courage my mother had’ the speaker wishes for a chance to have her mother back while Raymond Carver thinks that his dad did not do much to him when he was young as he expected. On the contrary, Theodore Roethke is happy misses the waltz.
References
Carver, R (2000).All of us: the collected poems; Vintage Contemporaries, London, LND: Vintage Books.
Millay, E. (2007).The Collected Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay, New York, NY: Filiquarian Publishing, LLC.
Roethke,T. (2001). My Papa’s Waltz, New York, NY: Bluestem Press.