




When someone refers to a waltz, one usually pictures a ballroom dance with two partners graciously dancing across the floor to a consistent beat. Theodore Roethke does not. Roethke’s interpretation of a waltz is a metaphorical dance between a drunken father and his son. Theodore Roethke, an American author who was born in the early nineteen hundreds, lost his father during his teenage years, turning his life up side down. Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” takes his childhood of alcoholism and abuse, and transforms it into a relationship he wishes could have lasted only one day longer. Roethke’s metaphor of a waltz is a beautiful way of hiding a seemingly difficult childhood. Through imagery and tone, he emphasizes his struggle of having a drunken, violent father, however with certain phrases, he shows that his father can be loving and caring. Through my perspective, Roethke tried to show the good side of his father, despite his abusive and alcoholic behaviors. After reading “My Papa’s Waltz” under scrutiny, I learned that Roethke’s father was indeed an alcoholic and also abusive; despite this, Roethke still loved his father.

Roethke opens his poem with a direct reference to the father and alcohol. He writes, “The whiskey on your breath / could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). Initially, I thought the father simply drank casually, enjoying a glass of Jack Daniel’s after a tiring day of work, but stating the father had alcohol on his breath was no coincidence. Phrases further into the poem indicate something else. The poem reads, “The hand that held my wrist / Was battered on one knuckle;” (9-10). I have seen alcoholics under the influence, and they tend to be particularly aggressive. This was the first flag. I was flagged a second time when the opening of the last stanza read, “You beat time on my head / With a palm caked hard by dirt,” (13-14). This hinted the struggles of an alcoholic. The constant stumbling and falling would lead to dirty hands, filled with regret and small scratches. After adding the two together, I finally put the nail in the coffin in my interpretation of Roethke’s opening sentence—the father is an alcoholic. Between the hefty smell of alcohol emerging from the father’s mouth, the scabbed, bloody knuckles, and the hands compacted with dirt, the meaning is crystal clear.

Not only was the boy struggling with the weight of an alcoholic; the boy’s father was also abusive. Roethke uses a few lines to hint the father’s aggressive behavior along with the disapproval of his actions: “My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself” (7-8). These lines demonstrate disapproval from the boy’s mother. I ponder why she never took action to make a change in the household, despite her knowledge of his wrongdoings. Is she too afraid? Will her husband hurt her if she does something? The reader can imply that the father punched: “The hand that held my wrist / Was battered on one knuckle;” (9-10). One does not simply have bruised knuckles from dragging them against a wall. The way Roethke describes the hand of the father shows the aggressive rituals he partook in. Further in investigation, I found Roethke to use descriptive imagery and metaphors to allow the audience to visualize what exactly is occurring behind the scenes. He states, “You beat time on my head” (13). A metronome beats time, not the hand of a father on a boy’s head. The parallel between the hand of the boy’s father and a metronome is a way of covering up the boy’s destructive emotions with his father. Although the tone of the poem is considered upbeat and joyful, through deep investigation, it is easy to tell that there is an abusive parent in the child’s life.

People usually do not develop deep-loving relationships after having a violent pastime with someone, however the boy in “My Papa’s Waltz” was able to overcome his troubled history. Despite all of the suffering his father brought to his family, the boy still loved his father. I realized there is an elegant beat to the poem, which is shown by the four line stanzas and six to seven syllable lines. Roethke also sugarcoats everything that happened, by using playful words, such as romped, making the situation less destructive. The overall theme of the poem relates to waltzing; there are a few lines that state the boy holding on to the father as they waltz. I believe this is a metaphor for Roethke holding on to the memories of his father. He writes, “But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy,” (3-4). He later states, “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). Although these two lines speak of the boy literally hanging on to the body of his father, I believe this is the boy’s way of saying that he still loves him. Roethke lost his father to cancer as a young teenager, so I believe this poem is a tribute to his father; it’s Roethke’s way of telling his father he loves him. Along with the references of passion and care, Roethke also uses playful words to give his poem a loving tone. For instance, the poem reads, “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf;” (5-6). Roethke could have used more violent terms, such as thrash, but used a word that sounded happier. His word choice throughout his poem is an attribute to the affection that comes from it. In conclusion, I have found that Roethke’s story screams difficulty, but by the use of critical words, metaphors, and true meaning, he is able to show compassion and care.

 After taking a close look at the poem I was able to find out two things about the boys father. First, his father was an alcoholic, or had troubles with alcohol. This is shown through description of the father’s body. Second, his father was abusive, represented by actions the father took throughout the poem. These two items are crucial to understanding the importance and difficulty of the boy’s ideals. If you take a step back, the poem screams love. Everything from the tone of the poem to the jargon he uses. The child in Roethke’s poem was able to overlook his father’s problems and accept him and love him. Roethke’s writing shows the relationship between a father and a son, but unlike others, the son was able to overlook the violent and alcoholic ways of his father and still love him.


