This four-page undergraduate paper analyzes the poems, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Simon J. Ortiz and “My Father’s Song” by Theodore Roethke. In his comparative analysis, the author notes that these poems are similar in a number of ways but also different, especially in the characterizations of the two fathers. One is sensitive and gentle, while the other is physical, boisterous in his affection, and seems to only be able to express his love for his son when he is under the influence of alcohol. The poems themselves differ in rhyme scheme but are thematically alike.