
 “Of pain you could wish only one thing: that it should stop. Nothing in the world was so bad as physical pain. In the face of pain there are no heroes,” stated George Orwell on the pain of abuse victims. Due to the lack of heroes in an abuse situation, Theodore Roethke fabricates an alternate representation of a child’s abuse that idealizes the relationship between the child and his abuser. “My Papa’s Waltz” depicts a young boy’s recount of physical and sexual abuse from his father as a waltz. Utilizing syntax, imagery, and the structure of the poem, Roethke maintains the theme of innocence by creating a façade of a loving, light-hearted waltz covering the darker reality of incestuous abuse. 

Utilizing syntax to maintain the theme of innocence, Roethke depicts the abuse as a carefree, drunken dance. The gentleness of the phrase “The hand that held my wrist” would appear to be a loving recount; however, the following quote describing the hand “battered on one knuckle” displays a more violent reality (91). “You beat time on my head” divulges that the abuse has been happening for a long time. Roethke utilizes two meanings of the homograph “beat” including the musical beat, furthering the theme of a dance, and striking repeatedly (“Beat”).  Although “At every step you missed/ My right ear scraped a buckle” could mean his drunk father missed a step while dancing, the quote suggests sexual abuse and the narrator’s self-blame (91). The phrasing of the suggestive activity demonstrates how the narrator places the blame on himself for the abuse. Sexual abuse is also suggested by the quote “We romped until the pans/ Slid from the kitchen shelf” (91). The word “romp” has two meanings: light-hearted rough play and sexual activity “especially illicitly” (“Romp”). Both meanings play a part in the narrator’s depiction of his abuse. His depiction of a fun dance between his father and himself contrasts the reality of the incestuous abuse he suffered as a child. 

The imagery of this poem depicts the narrator’s childlike need for, but also lack of, protection. The narrator is in denial of the situation he is in and admits participating in the waltz, the abuse, was not easy (90). The narrator reveals his disgust for the abuse his father inflicts upon him with the imagery “With a palm caked hard by dirt” (91). He feels dirty not only for the dirt on the hands abusing him but also the relationship he shares with his father. “But I hung on like death” (90). Death represents an inevitable ending and one cannot evade himself from death. Although the literal meaning of the quote remains to be the boy holding onto his father throughout the dance, an alternative, the reality, is the boy holding on to any trace of the fatherly figure and protection he desires. The lack of such a defense is evident with the imagery “My mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (91). Because this quote lies in the stanza with the description of the rough romping, it is evident the mother knew of the sexual abuse and did not stop it nor protect him. He exhibits a child’s innocent need to feel protected with the quote “Still clinging to your shirt” (91). This kind of imagery depicts a small child in need of protection. Despite the abuse, the narrator searches for a fatherly figure in the only place he knows. 

Continuing the theme of innocence by displaying the abuse as a dance, Roethke designs his poem to resemble the waltz. Each stanza, containing an average of five words to each line, contains a pattern of ABAB rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of the first stanza is ABAB, the second is CDCD, the third EFEF and the fourth is GHGH. “The meter is trecet iamb…stressed unstressed – three times per line…” (Theodore Roethke's). The rhythm of this format reflects the rhythm of a dance, or more specifically a waltz. The waltz is “a dance in triple time performed by a couple who as a pair turn rhythmically around and around as they progress around the dance floor (“Waltz”). The similarities between the syllables that are stressed and unstressed three times in each line and the waltz routine that remains characterized by its triple meter further solidify the idea of the poem reflecting a waltz. The seemingly endless spinning around and around of the waltz represents a cycle of the abuse in which the father traps his son. The specific wording of the title, “My Papa’s Waltz,” signifies that the father remains in control of the dance. He manipulates the boy and keeps him turning in the cycle. 

Utilizing syntax, imagery, and the waltz-mimicking design of the poem, Roethke masquerades the abuse a child receives from his father as a cheerful, carefree dance. The creation of this alternate reality serves to display a sharp contrast between an innocent childhood memory of a father and son dancing playfully to the disgusting reality of the incestuous relationship the narrator shared with his father. The dance symbolizes a never ending cycle of abuse the child must endure. An incest-rape survivor, Marilyn Van Derbur, stated, “Without realizing it, I fought to keep my two worlds separated. Without ever knowing why, I made sure, whenever possible that nothing passed between the compartmentalization I had created between the day child and the night child.”
