
My Papas’ Waltz by Theodore Roethke is an exploration into the relationship between a young boy and his father. The poem is short, yet chock full of underlying thematic elements. Ideas such as recklessness, abuse, and rampant alcoholism. In ‘My Papas’ Waltz, Roethke describes the experience of having an irresponsible father as both exhilarating and terrifying. 

In ‘My Papas’ Waltz’, Roethke uses specific descriptory language in the text to develop the theme of alcoholism in the father. The father in the poem is clearly shown as an irresponsible man. Evidence lies in the first stanza, where Roethke writes, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy; but I hung on like death; such waltzing is not easy. (Roethke,90). The first aspect of this stanza that really sticks out is the strength of the smell. The amount of Whiskey that the father would have to consume to make a boy in close proximity dizzy would have to be substantial at least. This could be an isolated event, although, for reasons that will be discussed later, it seems unlikely that this is the first time this has happened. The second half is just as important: ‘But I hung on like death; such waltzing was not easy.’ (Roethke) brings up the interesting idea of life and death. The boys grip is death like, the tightest possible. The interesting thing about this is the concept of life and death as going hand and hand. Death holds onto life, and vice versa, like yin and yang. Digging even further and combining all that is known about the father, it’s possible to come to the conclusion that the father is viewed as the “life of the party” so to speak, and his son is the “death” of that buzz, the comedown, the return to reality, and this is the cause of his resentment. The comedown, in addition to showing routine, is a metaphor for the father’s rough return to reality. 

In ‘My Papas’ Waltz’, Roethke uses specific words as indicators of domestic abuse. Often times, when alcoholism is present in the home, other problems are sure to ensue. In My Papas’ Waltz, that problem is abuse. Throughout the poem, many words are chosen specifically to trigger a hypothetical alarm. Roethke uses such words as ‘battered’ ‘beat’ and ‘belt buckle’ (Roethke, 90-91). Each of these words is used in a different way in the poem, all as a part of the waltz, whether it be the father beating time into his sons’ head, or a belt buckle scraping an ear. These words all have a close relationship with abuse, as ‘battered’ and ‘beat’ are fairly obvious, the scraping of a belt buckle might not be so blatant. Belts are commonly used by parents to discipline their children, though the fact the injuries occur so close to the head is alarming. Each of these words, while not providing concrete evidence of parental abuse, strongly imply it. 

In My Papas’ Waltz, Roethke shows that the waltz is a routine as well as the nature of the dance through the mothers’ reaction. The idea of the same old song and dance has been around for a long time, and comes into play in My Papas’ Waltz’. Roethke writes, “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf; my mothers’ countenance could not unfrown itself.” (Roethke,91). There are a few really interesting ideas in this piece of evidence. Romped is a particularly interesting word to choose to describe their dance. Romped is a fairly aggressive word, and in Spanish, is similar to the verb romper which means to break. This words actually points the reader to a more violent interpretation of the waltz. The second part of this evidence that makes it so interesting is the mention of the mother. A character previously unintroduced, and one that plays a very small, yet important part of the story. Countenance is another word for expression, and she cannot make herself appear happy. “could not” implies that it’s a permanent expression, bringing back this impression of routine, and that she can’t or won’t do anything to make a change. She clearly disapproves, and won’t act most likely out of fear. This shows the nature of the waltz more than anything else, and also supports the narrative of routine. 

My Papas’ Waltz, while first appearing as a story of a boys’ bedtime routine, proves to be more sinister. The Waltz is shown as both exhilarating and terrifying. the wildness of it all can be appealing, but at the same time terrifying, walking the line between life and death. Roethke shows this through lots of specific descriptory language, and illustrates the themes of abuse and alcoholism throughout the poem.