Robert Hayden's "The Whipping," and Theodore Roethke's Term Paper

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Robert Hayden's "The Whipping," and Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" describe child abuse. Both poets have similar approaches to this weighty and sensitive subject matter. Hayden and Roethke avoid cliches, self-righteousness, or judgmentalism, instead choosing to focus on the complex psychology underlying these issues. However, neither poet is willing to overlook the need for compassion and sympathy, even when dealing with abusive parents. This isn't to say that Hayden and Roethke are insensitive or apologetic; quite the contrary, both poets convey the pain and suffering associated with child abuse. Using exquisite lyrics and diction, the general theme is easy to figure out in both these poems. However, Hayden's is told from the perspective of an onlooker or neighbor, while Roethke's poem is told in first person, by the abused child. "The Whipping" is written in free verse without rhymes, while "My Papa's Waltz contains a rhyme scheme.

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In spite of their different literary and poetic styles and structures, both Hayden's "The Whipping" and Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" convey the pain of child abuse.

The Whipping" is told through the eyes of a passer-by or a neighbor witnessing an old woman "whipping the boy again." This implies that the act is repetitive. The point-of-view is third-person, from an outsider looking in just as the reader of the poem looks in on the action. The woman narrating the poem obviously feels powerless over the abuse, just as the mother with the frowning countenance in "My Papa's Waltz" seems powerless over her husband's actions. In Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz," it is implied that the abuse is long-standing because the metaphor of the waltz signifies an ongoing dance. "My….....

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