This essay examines how perception shapes meaning in two celebrated poems: Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz." The paper argues that both narrators find light within seemingly dark circumstances — Silverstein's speaker looking forward to an idealized, innocent destination beyond the familiar world, and Roethke's narrator looking backward to cherish a tender, if boisterous, memory of his father. Through close reading of imagery, repetition, and tone, the essay demonstrates that both poems ultimately affirm happiness as a matter of perspective and focus.
The concept of perception plays a major role in "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 demonstrates how the narrator glimpses light in what would otherwise be considered a dark situation.
Shel Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" urges the viewer to look beyond what he or she already knows. Silverstein's repetition and anaphora of the word "and" helps to show that there are an endless number of things existing beyond the proverbial sidewalk. By repeatedly using the word "and," Silverstein demonstrates the multitude of things present 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 ends / And before the street begins, / And there the grass grows soft and white, / And there the sun burns crimson bright, / And there the moon-bird rests from his flight / To cool in a peppermint wind" (Silverstein lines 1–6).
In Silverstein's imagination, this destination is his goal, and he urges his companion — whether within the poem or the reader directly — to "leave this place where the smoke blows black / And the dark street winds and bends" (lines 7–8). Furthermore, Silverstein imbues the place where the sidewalk ends with innocent undertones, contending that "the children, they know / The place where the sidewalk ends" (lines 15–16). By contrasting his present location, which is black and dark, with the place where the sidewalk ends, which appears white and bright, Silverstein demonstrates how the narrator is able to see beyond the dark times he may currently find himself in and instead focuses on the brightness that lies ahead.
Similarly, Roethke is able to recall a moment of pleasure in what would otherwise be a dark moment in his life. While "My Papa's Waltz" appears to be rife with abusive undertones, the memory the narrator holds is anything but abusive. Despite the fact that the narrator comments, "The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy" and "The hand that held my wrist / Was battered on one knuckle," he does not cower from his father but rather clings on tighter as the father and son clumsily waltz through the house (Roethke lines 1–2 & 9–10).
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