
In the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke tells a story of his childhood.  Written partially in first-person, Roethke strategically balances positive and negative tones to portray a snapshot of the life of a boy living with an abusive father.  Roethke paints a picture of a playful, yet fearful moment between a father and son.  Throughout the poem, he uses simple words to create ambiguous sentences that contribute to the poem’s overall dual, complex theme of a boy’s relationship with his father. The title “My Papa’s Waltz” embodies the double meaning of love and happy versus fear and concern, as “papa” is a term of endearment and “waltz” is the dance that goes round and round with an underlying message that his father was inebriated routinely and often.  Throughout the poem’s structure, words, and phrases, the reader notices the positive and negative parallel of the unhealthy relationship between the father and the son, while also noticing the admiration the son has for his father despite his problems. 

The first stanza clearly depicts the tension between the father and son, while also showing the respect the boy had for his father.  Roethke writes, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Roethke 1-2) to emphasize to the reader that the alcohol smell was very obvious. Although there is no physical abuse discussed in this line, the child mentions the strong smell of whiskey on his father’s breath which leads readers to believe the father is a heavy drinker. Roethke also describes the dancing to be difficult when he writes, “but I hung on like death such waltzing was not easy” (Roethke 3-4).  The boy held tightly to his father, although the father’s alcohol consumption made it difficult to do so.  This line also shows the sense of respect the boy has towards his father despite the abusive situation.  The author’s use of the word “death” also stands out in this stanza.  It implies that the waltzing or playful moment was fun to begin with but was taken overboard by the intoxicated father.  Although the word “death” could be viewed as an exaggeration, it also could be referring to the unhealthy relationship between the father and the son.  It seems as if the boy is holding on for dear life, not trusting his father fully that he will be safe and not let go of him.  This stanza creates a sense of uneasiness, in which the boy feels overwhelmed, while also showing that he is holding on to his father despite his uncomfortable feeling.  Also, Roethke uses slant rhyming with “easy” and “dizzy” to overemphasize the chaos and unsettling feeling.     

The second stanza of the poem continues to exemplify the abuse that was present within the family. Roethke states, “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf” (Roethke 5-6) to stress how rough the father was being during this playful moment with the boy.  The author’s use of the word “romp” suggests fun, yet then reiterates the impact of the rough-housing resulting in a mess in the kitchen.  In this line, the father was drunkenly stumbling around knocking pans off of the shelves.  The chaos that is caused by the father exemplifies to readers the father’s carefree and rough demeanor caused by his alcohol consumption.  It is clear that the playful moment has become much too harsh for the young boy.  The author then writes “my mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself” (Roethke, 7-8) to heighten the opposition of his parents.  Although this line is where the mother is first mentioned, readers are quickly able to notice that she was not pleased nor okay with the situation.  The mother wants to desperately stop what is going on here but is unware of how to do so, which continues the underlying theme of the sense of uneasiness and fear.  By not stopping the rough-housing, the mother seems scared but somewhat respectful by not interrupting the moment.  The mother’s intuition that rough-housing starts out fun but ends with sadness or injury is confirmed in the next stanza. 

The third stanza of the poem depicts the abuse in a more serious way to emphasize the anxiety and terror, but also the unhealthy acceptance by the son.  Roethke describes the abuse to be more physical when he writes, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle” (Roethke 10-11).  The “battered” knuckle is evidence that the father indeed has anger issues and could have physically abused the son.  The physical abuse would likely not have occurred if the father had not have gotten drunk.  The wounded hand implies that he is also powerful, while the boy feels powerless and out of control of the situation.  As a consequence, the boy seems to accept his father’s problem by not trying to do anything about it.  The author then writes again about the father’s drunkenness when he states, “At every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle” (Roethke, 12-13).  The father is too drunk at this point to even dance, as he is stumbling and causing pain on the child because of this inebriated state.  In addition to the physical abuse, the father is also being neglectful by not noticing or caring that with every misstep due to being dizzy, he was causing the son physical pain.  There is also a deeper implication that it caused sadness as well.  This stanza echoes the previous two stanzas to show both fear and uneasiness because of intoxication and physical abuse, yet still there’s an underlying message of acceptance of the father’s ways as the boy willingly allows the scrapes on his ear by the belt buckle.  This stanza also retells and overemphasizes the unhealthiness of this relationship because of the drunken state of the father.

The last stanza concludes the poem and replicates the meaning throughout its lines. The author writes, “You beat time on my head with a palm caked by dirt” (Roethke 12-13) to portray a powerful labored hand hitting the boy.  Whether playful in nature or not, the labored hand of the father who is consuming too much alcohol has taken it too far with the young boy.  The author’s word choice of “beat” brings readers to think of the abuse that is happening within the family.  The word beat could be a double entendre, referring to the beat of the music that the two are dancing to and also to the father physically beating his son.  The father’s dirty palm is also another description that proves him to be rough.  The last two lines of the poem are where readers are able to notice the child’s sense of admiration towards the father.  The author writes, “then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt” (Roethke 14-15) to show how desperate the boy was for his father’s love.  The son still clinging to his father after all of the rough dancing/playing shows the boy’s strong admiration towards his father.  The son longs to spend time with his father despite his personal problems and the underlying abuse, alcohol and physical abuse of the boy.  In this last stanza, the boy “clinging” and “not letting go” portrays that he genuinely believes his father is a good man and loves him despite his weaknesses and imperfections.

The poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a recap of childhood memories that depicts a snapshot of what it is like to live with a father who not only abuses alcohol, but shows physical abuse as a result.  Just like a relationship is complex, so is this poem’s theme as it is rich with ambiguity.  Although the work of prose seems to be merely describing a “waltz” or rhythmic dance shared between a father and son, it is really much more than that throughout the text.  Readers are able to notice the negative affect the alcoholic father had on his child.  The child admired his father even though the situation was so severe and abusive.  Roethke’s use of slant rhyme and certain word choice in addition to his rhythmic style depicts the dual tone of the “dance,” which was chaotic, rough, and scary, while simultaneously being playful and fun.  The boy loved his father despite his weaknesses and addiction to alcohol.  The thematic emphasis Roethke parallels is both happy and sad, exciting and concerning. “My Papa’s Waltz” shows that though a parent can be physically abusive and have seriously alarming issues, his child longs for the bond and loves him through it somehow.