
When reading My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke, many would say that the poem comes off a little abusive. From Roethke’s background, I would say otherwise. Theodore Roethke seemed to live a close life with his uncle and father. He helped both men keep up with their twenty-five-acre greenhouse in Michigan presenting that his relationship with his father was wholesome and not abusive at all other than enforcing rules like a normal father-son bond. Both men close in his life passed away when he was a young teenager. This lead him to more in depth poetry over the following years considering he was more in touch with his feelings. Roethke was known as “the greatest poet this country has yet produced”, leading me to believe that My Papa’s Waltz was focusing on a joyful theme rather than harmful. I don’t think that Roethke is trying to write this poem to make his deceased father look bad. Instead I get the feeling that Roethke is just reminiscing on the joyful times he had with his father. The poem was not about abuse but instead Roethke was just trying to demonstrate the happier times with his father and I will show examples from Roethke’s text.

One of the first few lines that’s difficult to interpret is “But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy” (lines 2 & 3). In the text the connotation comes off as harsh when using a word like death. I can see where someone would read this to believe as a child Roethke feared his father, especially after following the line “The whiskey on your breath” (line 1). Instead of assuming his father was a harmful drunk, I see this line as the child doesn’t know how to waltz. So, while standing on his dad’s shoes twirling around learning the steps to the dance he holds on tightly to his blissfully drunk dad’s shirt so he doesn’t fall off. 

The waltz back in the 1860’s was a very popular style of dancing and was used at very many formal balls. This means with the dance being so popular, he could be excited since he gets to teach his son the dance he knows. Things begin to seem a little violent when we see the line “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf” (lines 5 & 6). While his dad is, ecstatic and intoxicated at the same time the dancing could have gotten out of control and caused the pans to fall to the ground with the loud footsteps. Following the pans hitting the floor “My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself” (lines 7 & 8) the mother would be frowning for the child’s safety since they are “romping” around the house. This leads readers to think the father is letting things get out of control while dancing and could potentially harm their son. When I read about the mother frowning I think that she is just upset simply because of her pans falling in the kitchen and both the father and son carrying on. 

Missing a step in the waltz could mess the entire dance up so when this is said, “At every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle” (lines 11 & 12), readers think some type of punishment is implied. While Roethke is still standing on his dad’s shoes waltzing around the house and continuing to be a little rowdy, his dad could be missing a few steps since he is drunk. With these missed steps comes Theodore holding on for dear life again, hitting his right ear on his dad’s belt buckle. Not in a harmful, punishing way but more accidental. I see where readers could begin to say that his dad is beating Roethke for every missed step in the waltz and since he is drunk he could be missing with his belt and scraping his child’s ear. Especially after the line “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle” (lines 9 & 10) referring to his dad’s hand holding his child’s wrist while trying to abusively beat him over mistakes made in the dance. When referencing to Roethke’s childhood though, his father, uncle, and himself worked in the greenhouse that they owned and could have scraped his hands while doing manual labor. As to his father holding his wrist, he never says tightly, so this makes me believe that his dad was just making sure he didn’t fall off while dancing. 

Time is also a very important piece to the waltz along with any type of dancing. When Roethke talks about “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt,” (lines 13 & 14) I think the word beat is being taken out of context. There’s no doubt that beat is being used in a physical context, but I think Roethke was just trying to emphasize that his dad helped him learn the beat to the waltz by tapping on his head. I could picture his dad patting on his head as they dance to remember the pace. Using a physical way to learn something is a method that works great with younger children and when used in a repetitive way can be very effective. Readers could see the dad beating Theodores head in a more physical way when the following line is “with a palm caked hard by dirt,” (line 14). This isn’t included to hint that his dad is abusive, instead the line used is backing up his dads hard, physical work aspect. When they are done dancing, the dad carries Roethke to bed yet again supporting a good father figure. “Waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt” (lines 15 & 16) Roethke is carried to his room for bedtime and in the meantime, is clinging to his father’s shirt in hopes that he won’t have to go to bed. Clinging to his dad’s shirt is just showing that Roethke was not ready to go to bed and didn’t want to let go of his father in hopes of staying awake with him longer. 

There are many ways to interpret writings and I never will be the one to tell someone that their interpretation is incorrect. Instead I’m just going to voice my opinion in a way that could cause other readers to question their thinking. In the case of My Papas Waltz I don’t think that this poem was meant to be understood with a negative connotation. Instead it was to serve the purpose of showing a time where Roethke and his father were bonding before his dad’s death. Showing that Roethke and his father were close and spend time together learning a new dance comes off as a positive aspect in my mind. That draws me to the conclusion that yes while some lines in the text could be understood in a violent and harming way, the theme of Roethke’s poem was indeed peaceful and joyful. 

 