Silverstein and Roethke
The concept of perception plays a major role in the poems "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein and "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke. In "Where the Sidewalk Ends," Silverstein looks to the future and contends that there is something unknown and possibly better beyond what he can see, whereas the narrator in Roethke's poem looks to the past to remember a time when he had no worries. Despite the differences in perspective, each writer is able to demonstrate how the narrator sees a glimpse of light in what would otherwise be considered a dark situation.
Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" aims to have the viewer look beyond what he or she knows is there. Silverstein's repetition and anaphora of the word "and" helps to show that there are an endless amount of things that exist beyond the proverbial sidewalk. By repeatedly using the word "and," Silverstein is able to demonstrate the multitudinous things that exist at the end of the sidewalk, which may be representative of the end of one's life. Silverstein describes, "There is a place where the sidewalk...
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