

Nobody is perfect. As young children, we often do not understand the mistakes made by older people around us, especially our parents. In his poem, Theodore Roethke recalls a time when he dances with his father in their kitchen. His father is belligerently drunk, but as a young child, he either does not understand it or chooses to ignore it. Additionally, the poem has an underlying tone of violence during the dance. It appears that the boy and his father have a complicated relationship, but no matter how many times his dad acts inappropriately, the boy still loves him.

In the first line, the young boy talks about how he can smell the whiskey on his father’s breath and that it is so strong that it, “Could make a small boy dizzy” (Roethke 2). This means that his father has been drinking, which also gives the impression that he is an alcoholic. In these two lines, there is no direct violence but the fact that his father is drunk could easily escalate into a violent scene. The small boy continues on to say that he “Hung on like death” (Roethke 3). The line reveals that the young boy actually is dizzy from the whiskey on his father’s breath. Using the word “death” so early in the poem sets a darker tone on the poem. It shows us that the young boy has to hold on to his father so tight that he cannot escape like death. This also illustrates that the boy is not enjoying the dance. The waltz is very difficult for him and he has to cling onto his father just to keep going. 

In the second stanza, we get a more realistic picture of what this dance really looks like. This is not nearly a waltz but much more of a romp. We think of a waltz as an elegant dance that takes a significant amount of practice in order to excel. However, what we see here is dancing in the kitchen, with pans being knocked off the kitchen shelf, creating quite a commotion. In the next two lines, we are introduced to the mother. The mother appears to just be a bystander in this scene. She is out of the way and her “Countenance could not unfrown itself” (Roethke 3-4). I think she is frowning on the outside, but she is really laughing internally. She does not really seem to be too bothered by her husband and child making a mess of the kitchen because she never steps in and stops them.  However, she likely does not step in because she is concerned about her drunk husband acting violent towards her. 

In the third stanza, the father grabs the boy’s wrist quite violently. He describes his father’s hand as “Battered on one knuckle” (Roethke 10). This is odd because throughout the poem the father has been addressed as “You” or “Your” but in this line, his hand is described as “The hand” (Roethke 9). Additionally, the hand was battered on one knuckle, hinting again at violence. This is significant because it leads us to think he gets into fights often and continues to support the concept that he is frequently violent.  It is not clear if the father battered his knuckle punching something or someone while drunk or if he had just had an accident at work. However, it certainly points towards the idea that he had punched something or gotten in a fight when he was drunk. In the next two lines, the father repeatedly messes up the steps in the dance, presumably because he is intoxicated. Each time he misses a step, the boy’s ear scrapes against his father’s belt. Even though this appears to happen multiple times, the father just keeps on going because he is too drunk to realize what he is doing. The belt signifies abuse because it reminds us of how the belt was used to punish kids throughout history. This again shows us the underlying tone of violence in the poem.

In the last stanza, the author chooses to use “Beat” to say that the boy’s father “Beat time on my head” (Roethke 13) This adds to the tone of violence and aggression. The author makes deliberate word choices to create the tone. The boy then mentions that his father’s palms are “Caked hard by dirt” (Roethke 14). Although it is not directly stated in the poem, if you read the biography of Theodore Roethke in the Carolina Reader, it mentions that his father owns a greenhouse, so it would make sense that his hands would be dirty after a day of work. 

As the dance seems to die down, the father waltzes the boy to bed, as the boy still clings to his father’s shirt. The dance seems to be coming to an end and the father tries to put the boy to sleep. Yet, the boy is still clinging to his father’s shirt because he does not want to go to bed. This can be interpreted as a happy ending to the poem and gives the sweet image of a father tenderly dancing his son off to bed. Although the dance was tough for the boy and he got a little hurt from the belt, he still hangs on to his dad because he loves him no matter what. 

This dance, to be frank, is not very pretty. The father is drunk, messing up the steps, and knocking pans all over the kitchen. Even through all this, the boy still clings to the father because he loves him unconditionally. It is likely that the dance itself is an extended metaphor for the boy’s relationship with his father. The relationship was not perfect but they still stuck together. I think this relates to the larger message that Theodore Roethke is trying to convey that our relationship with our parents, like other relationships, is likely to be filled with ups and downs. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the volatility of the relationship, we still love our parents in the end.