A Waltz With Death On Crystal Stairs Essay

My Papas walk-in, 1948 In this poem by Theodor Roethke, the speaker is describing his childhood in the arms of his drunken become. He recalls how his father comes home intoxicated with alcohol and drives both him and his m otherwise crazy. Theodor Roethke was a commodious poet and the moods of his poetry range from acid wit to simple feeling. well-nigh of his other poems ar Open House (1941), The Lost Son and Other Poems (1948), The vigilant (1953, Pulitzer Prize), Words for the Wind (1957), I AmSays the Lamb (1961), and The Far product line (1964). Because I could not stop for Death, 1863 In this poem by Emily Dickin tidings, the poet seems to go under herself in eternity as she recalls her life. Death is portrayed as a gentleman and Immortality is with them as they ride in a carriage that passes sceneries that record the three major stages of human life birth, adolescence and old age. Emily Dickinson is considered one of the intimately original 19th Century American poets .She is noted for her unconventional grim rhyming meter and use of dashes and random capitalization as surface as her creative use of metaphor and overall innovative style. Some of her poems are Fame is a fickle food, I cannot screw with you, I entangle a Funeral, in my Br personal and Im Nobody Who are you? induce to Son, 1932 In this poem by Langston Hughes, a mother is advising his son not to give up on life by recalling her feature misgivings in the past. The mother decides to compare her life to stairs and delimits how hard it was to hop on it.Langston Hughes was a prolific writer. In the forty y spindles when he firstborn-year wrote a book until his devastation in 1967, he wrote sixteen books of poems, devil novels, three collections of short stories, four volumes of editorial and documentary fiction, twenty plays, childrens poetry, musicals and operas, three autobiographies, a dozen radio and television scripts and dozens of magazine publisher articles and edited seven anthologies. Some of his other distinguished poems are The scare Blues (1926), The Negro stick and other Dramatic Recitations (1931) and The Dream custodian (1932).The profound metaphors in Theodor Roethkes My Papas Waltz, Emily Dickinsons Because I Could Not Stop For Death and Langston Hughes Mother to Son make readers glint on the lives of their poets and theorize on their own existence. My Papas Waltz is a joy to analyze because the metaphor or the waltz has brought nigh very contrasting reflections on the poem. With lines such as But I hung on like death such waltzing was not slatternly (Kennedy and Gioia 674) many another(prenominal) critics obligate come to understand the poem in the clean of a father and son playing roughly and enjoying their quality moment.However, many scholars as well as think that Roethke is actually using the metaphor of a waltz to take up child abuse. The word romped seems to show enjoyment. However, pans sliding from the kitchen shelv es and the boys ear scraping on his fathers belt buckle with either missed step contradict the poets first description of the dance. match to John J. McKenna in his article, Roethkes Revisions and The Tone Of My Papas Waltz, the manuscript manuscripts of My Papas Waltz confirm that Roethke himself tried to balance the contradict and positive tones of the poem, resulting in its rich ambiguity.Emily Dickinson is famous for her great use of metaphors. The first line of the poem Because i could not stop for death, he social stopped for me( Kennedy and Gioia 1019) seems to be about a girl who has contemplated committing suicide in the past. In the end of the poem she seems to be happy that she did not release through with it because she was after all, ready to pursue living. However, the metaphors used to portray death and immortality as persons can be confusing and easily understood in a different light.William Galperin reflects on these metaphors from the point of view of a femin ist. In his critique compiled by Donna Campbell of Washington State University, he takes that death embodies edicts perception that a woman has to sustain married and live a domesticated life while the poem similarly redefined immortality as a womans self-possession, or the result of a refusal to give up society the prerogative of selecting her. There are also some scholars who believe that Dickinson is actually hinting on seduction in this poem.It is very easy to get lost in Dickinsons metaphors and even scholars themselves have different points of reflections on it. However, these metaphors are what make her poem truly distinct and interesting. In the poem, Mother To Son, Langston Hughes seems to be referring to a stereo-typical mother advising his son on how to deal with life. It is easy to think that the poem just wants to convey a more get along with person trying to coach someone to move on. Life for me aint been no crystal stair (Kennedy and Gioia 1031) clearly uses the metaphor of the staircase to make readers understand that life is not easy.Words like break boards torn up and bare can be interpreted as hardships in life. The poets use of the crystal stairs also seems to describe an easy and comfortable life or heaven to some. However, in the light of the times when the poem was written, scholars believe that the message is related to racial discrimination. Aidan Wasley, in the book, Poetry for Students, believes that it becomes easy to see Hughess mother figure as something like a racial matriarch addressing her scattered children and exhorting them to keep on climbing on their way to freedom.The lives and beliefs of the authors of the three poems are deeply implant in the metaphors they used. It is their masterful way of weaving these mere words intricately that convey such powerful messages and remarkable stories that one can only when appreciate by reflecting on ones own decisions and principles. These poetical devices are very effective in making one contemplate and were successful and shall keep the poems truly alive long after their poets have gone.Works CitedKeneddy, X. J. , and Dana Gioia. Literature an introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York, New York Pearson and Longman, 2007. McKenna, John J. Roethkes Revisions And The Tone Of My Papas Waltz, 1998. University of Nebraska at Omaha. 15 April 2007 http//www. mrbauld. com/exrthkwtz. html. Wasley, Aidan. An Overview of Mother To Son Poetry For Students. Gale, 1998. Wsu. edu. Campbell, Donna. Washington State University. 15 April 2007 .