





In “My Papa’s Waltz,” Roethke uses an extended metaphor, but uses different language to describe it as the poem is read. “My Papa’s Waltz” has the metaphor of dancing throughout the poem, more correctly, waltzing between a father and son. Everything from the description of the fluidity of the dance to the speaker’s feeling towards the dance helps create a stronger meaning behind the metaphor. Roethke uses dancing as a metaphor for the relationship between the son and the father, according to the son. Roethke is also able to create a unique atmosphere with his word choice. He emphasizes small details throughout the poem, which allows the reader to picture a sharper image. Roethke especially emphasizes the father’s hands, the father’s breath and the son holding onto the father.

Lines one and two specify one reason why the waltzing may be difficult; the father’s breath is venomous with the stench of whiskey. These lines show that the father is known to drink detrimentally heavy. When Roethke writes “But I hung on like death:/Such waltzing was not easy.,” the speaker describes the dancing as difficult, but he pushes through this difficulty. (line 3 and 4) Relating this to the relationship between the father and son, lines three and four express that their relationship is complicated for the child, but he desperately wants the relationship to exist. Stanza one explains the child’s feeling towards the relationship.

Stanza two adds to the metaphor with the idea that the mother is not happy with the father and son’s relationship once something goes wrong. For example, after the pots fall from the shelf because of their dance, Roethke writes “My mother’s countenance/Could not unfrown itself.” (line 7 and 8) Although the word romped gives the action a negative connotation, it means to play roughly and energetically. Stanza two also gets a negative connotation because the mother is unhappy with their actions. Tying in this stanza with the underlying metaphor, the mother may be unhappy with their relationship only once something goes wrong. Roethke uses stanza two to convey the idea that the father and son got along at one point until something occurred.

Roethke uses verse three to give a description of the father's actions in their “dance.” Line ten describes the father’s battered knuckle, which evokes the idea that the father has been fighting. The semicolon between sentences shows that they are related. The father was holding on to his son firmly, but with every misstep, he hurt the child. The father will always be a father but may not have always been a “Papa” to the son. “At every step you missed/My right ear scraped a buckle.,” elicits the thought that their “dance” has been toxic for the son, especially when the father messes up. (line 11 and 12) Stanza three tells the reader that father held the son very close, which was hurtful to the kid, especially when the father messed up.

Stanza four also has a negative connotation because of the word beat. But in this context, it is not negative. It is describing the moment when a dad playfully taps a rhythm onto a kid. The father taps the beat onto the boy with his dirty hands and then brings him into bed. The father chooses when to stop playing, even though the child desperately hangs on for more. The son wants more time with the father, a longer relationship, but the father whisks him off to bed, ending the relationship.

Every stanza ties into and adds to the extended metaphor of the waltz. Stanza one describes the difficulty of the relationship. Stanza two tells the reader about the mother’s feelings towards the relationship and how it was energetic and fun until something went wrong. Stanza three shows that the father held onto their relationship, but ultimately hurt the kid. Stanza four expresses that the father put an end to the relationship even though the son continually held on. 

Roethke references the father's abused hands twice throughout the poem. In both cases, Roethke describes the hands of a laborer or a fighter. Stanza three describes the hands as “battered on one knuckle” and stanza four outlines the hands as “caked hard by dirt.” (lines 10 and 14) Both quotes elicit the idea that the father lives a rough life, filled with fighting and hard work. The imagery of the father’s hands adds to the metaphor because it creates the father to be a rugged individual. Roethke also references the child hanging onto the father twice throughout the poem. Both instances create the idea that the son has been striving to keep a relationship with his father, even though it has hurt him and made the mother sad at times. 

The poem is written directly with understandable language. The poem, at its face-value, is straightforward. But, underneath the writing, it holds a much deeper meaning. Roethke was able to create the meaningful poem with his word choice as well as the extended metaphor. Each stanza gives a little more insight into the relationship between the son and father. Although, it is a biased look at their relationship, since Roethke wrote it in the perspective of the son. Overall, the poem seems to give a negative description of the relationship. But, after deeper reading, there are bright points and weak points throughout the relationship, just like any other relationship. Roethke describes the mother’s and son’s feelings towards the relationship, the fun they had (until something went wrong), the father’s mishaps, and that the father ultimately ended the relationship, all within the context of waltzing. 