Janessa Dirawatun
CRN 15732
Poetry (1)
The Current Motions
William Stafford’s poem “Ask Me” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” are two literary poems that use characteristics of everyday things to identify the emotion of the characters. Stafford’s piece expresses his life through the form of a river, while Roethke explains the relationship between a father and a son through a dance. The reader can depict how both authors use the movements of a river and a dance to express their inner-feelings. In Stafford’s poem, the river currents are understood to express life’s intermediate changes between highs and lows, through the past, present, and future. Roethke describes the Waltz between the father and son as a persistent movement that signifies both the emotional and physical issues that lie within their relationship. “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Ask Me” are similar through the complexity of emotions that the narrator goes through by using the key elements imagery, symbolism, and tone. These two literary pieces purposely run through the mix of emotions to change the reader’s perception of the poem from the beginning till the end. Throughout both literary poems, the authors provide imagery through words that have visual representation but very little description. The reader is taken into a state of mind where they can paint a picture in their head of what scenery the narrator is in. The imagery throughout the poems is important because they reflect the overall emotion of the poem and the narrators take on the situation. For example, Stafford’s first line says “Some time when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made.” The reader will automatically characterize the river and imagine it frozen and still. This line continues with “Ask me whether what I have done is my life.” The question about mistakes he has made in life and expression of how he feels about where he