Poems can have thousands of different meanings depending on the many different people who read them. After reading “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke the first time, I imagined a scene of a father and son playfully dancing after dinner when he returned from work, then going off to bed. After having a class discussion and doing a close reading of the poem, I saw many things that changed my original thoughts about it. I still see the idea of waltzing showing the positive parts of the father and son’s relationship. However, I noticed the repetition of words that are all related to abuse. Once I noticed this, I began to question the real subject matter of “My Papa’s Waltz” and I no longer thought there was a happy theme associated with it. There are a few lines that display the boy forgiving his father. If the poem was about a favorable father-son relationship, there would be no need for forgiveness. This detail helped bring the theme together completely. Once I examined this poem and noticed all these different aspects, I decided the theme that fit this poem was forgive those you love even when they hurt you. When we look in depth at “My Papa’s Waltz,” we can see that it is talking about an abusive relationship, which is what most people do not see. This is important because it gives a more sensitive meaning to the poem than if it was just about a boy and his father playfully dancing. 

There are many different ideas about the meaning of this poem. Two common ideas are that it is about a father and son dancing merrily or that it is about an alcoholic father abusing his son. I see this poem as a man looking back on his childhood with an abusive, alcoholic father. However, I do not see the man completely resenting his father. I anticipate the main idea of waltzing represents the good part of the father and son’s kinship. It contributes to the theme that you forgive those you love. Although the father abused his son, I believe there were still parts of the boy’s life where the father was tolerable. After reading, “Then waltzed me off to bed” (Roethke 15), I believe a positive memory the boy has with his father is putting him to bed. This shows the father was not always unbearable and the boy had positive memories with his dad which were represented by waltzing. This idea contributes to the theme of forgiving those you love even when they hurt you because it shows the love the boy has for his dad which is why he is so forgiving. 

Although the boy loves his father, he cannot cover up the abuse he experiences. After discussion and a close reading of this poem, I saw the repetition of words that are related to abuse. “Romped,” “battered,” “scraped,” and “beat” are all used in the poem to describe the abuse from the father. The poem would have more subdued words and more words to promote a positive, happy relationship if it was about a playful waltz between a father and son. These harsh words that are used contribute to the theme of forgiving people you love even when they hurt you because they give us insight on the mistreatment of the boy. Another part of the poem that shows the abuse the boy takes from his father is “The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy” (Roethke 1-2). The part with the whiskey was added to let the reader know the father was an alcoholic. Also, I think the word dizzy was used because it shows the fact that the dad was an alcoholic hurt the boy and their relationship. I think the alcohol is what made the father abusive and the boy knows that. I also feel like this is part of the reason the boy is so forgiving of his father. He knows his sober father would never hurt him and the alcohol is what makes his dad abusive. This contributes to the theme of forgiving the ones you love even when they hurt you because it is very clear that the boy is hurt by his father, but the boy makes excuses and forgives him. 

When you love someone, even if they put you through so much pain, it is almost impossible to just stop loving them. It is hard to break away from someone you love especially when it is family and as a child, the boy probably had nowhere to go. This is likely the reason the boy forgives his father after he was mistreated so many times. He loves his dad because of all of the waltzing, or good parts of their relationship. Due to this, the boy looks past the bad parts of the relationship, the abuse, and forgives his father. One example from the poem that shows the boy being forgiving is, “Still clinging to your shirt” (Roethke 16). This is the main proof showing the boy is forgiving of his father. He is still holding on at the very end of the poem after all of the abuse is explained. This contributes to the theme that people forgive the ones they love no matter how much they hurt them. The boy is beaten and battered and romped but in the end he still clings on to his dad. He still holds on because he still loves him and is forgiving of everything his dad does to him. No matter what people you love do to you, you always run back. It is not because you are pathetic or needy or not self-sufficient, it is because you love that person. This is why the theme of forgiving the ones you love even if they hurt you represents “My Papa’s Waltz.”

After a close reading of “My Papa’s Waltz,” my ideas on the poem were changed. When I originally read the poem, I imagined a father and son in the kitchen dancing and the mom trying to make dinner and getting frustrated that they were making too much noise. When I read this poem the first time, I skipped over all the important words that clearly tell you what it is about and made up in my head what I wanted to hear. After discussion and a close reading of this poem I can clearly see the underlying meaning. The harsh word choice all relating to abuse tell you how the father abuses his son. Waltzing, a fun form of dance, is used in the poem to represent the positive side of their relationship. That is one of the reasons that the boy loves his dad no matter what he does to him. The boy always looks back on the positive memories and uses those as an excuse to forgive. The line about the whiskey shows the father’s alcohol abuse which is another reason the boy is so forgiving of his father. The boy knows his sober dad would never hurt him so he blames the abuse on the alcohol, not his father. The last line of the poem is showing the boy’s forgiveness to his father and ties the theme all together. People are forgiving to those they love no matter how bad the ones they love hurt them.
