
In “My Papa’s Waltz” Waltzing is a recurring word as well as action. The piece uses waltzing as a symbol to display a family’s confusion in order to argue the detrimental effects of alcohol and abuse to a child. The author portrays this in several ways one being the manner in which he wrote the poem with his use of syntax, symbolism and style. Another being vividly describing the outcome of this child’s confusion from being placed in such an unfortunate situation. Also waltzing is used not only to describe a literal dance between father and child but an emotional back and forth between the two as they face challenges in their relationship.

The author Theodore Roethke structured “My Papa’s Waltz” in a manner to symbolize waltzing. As you read the poem without any efforts you can began to her the lines rhyme and sound musical as if you singing a ¾ timed waltz. Roethke intentionally creates this easy flow of rhythm to emulate a waltz also so we as an audience can get a since of waltzing by experiencing it ourselves. Another instance where this occurs is where Roethke places his words in the sentences. If you read the text slowly in many cases where bad words or words with negative connotation occur, they are accented in the sentence. Meaning when you pronounce these words they stand out to you because of their placement in the sentence. Where as many of the positive words in the sentence do not take as much efforts to pronounce leaving them to not stand out as much. Take for example this sentence “But I hung on like death.” (Roethke line 3) When you read it you would think that holding on to something would be positive like holding on to a dream or goal. However, the accented word in this sentence is death which takes the statement in an entirely different direction, deriving it from something positive to something negative. Generally, a person would not hold on to death or the concept of death but in this case the child has demonstrating to us an example of the up and down, round and around relationship with his father or the waltz with his Papa.  

The diction used throughout the poem also helps to compare the father’s actions as well as him and his son’s relationship to waltzing. Words like "whiskey”, “battered”, and “scrapped” include some of the negative words that the child mention throughout the piece. Through the use of these words the child is conveying to us his emotions toward the drunken side of his father. He is unable to express to us directly his fear and pain in dealing with the situation so he uses words as descriptors to identify these emotions. The emotions describe by these words are the low points in the relationship between the two however, the child turns or waltz into better times with his father. Cases where the word “romped” and “clinging” are mention convey some sense of positivity. When these words are used the child seems to be at a state of peace with his father loving and enjoying his presence. For example, the two of them having fun romping in the kitchen creating a mess. These are just two examples that identify what the child constantly goes through. He has to endure the emotional instability of his father going from playing in the kitchen to physical abuse then back to a loving father tucking his child in for bed. From the words used by the child it is clear that this waltz between him and his father is constant and never changing.

Theodore Roethke creatively uses the word waltz to reintegrate a symbol of the child and father’s rocky relationship. According to the Webster dictionary a waltz is describe as “a dance preformed by couple or who as a pair turn rhythmically turn around and around as they progress around the dance floor.” In his poem Roethke uses this word because like a waltz the actions that the boy and his father preform are as routine as a dance, and this child’s life has been their dance floor. The child is constantly getting abused physically by his drunken father but the love that he feels towards him causes his judgement to be clouded. The love he feels for his father is interfered by the abuse as well as vice versa. For example, the poem states “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt, then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt.”(Roethke line 13-14) This is interpreted to mean that the father caused the boy to age or mature quicker from having to deal with the father’s substance and physical abuse. The time that Roethke speaks of is meant to mean the accelerated time at which the child grew up quickly to accommodate his unpleasant situation.  Though the boy is dealing with such harsh treatment from his father he’s still “clinging” to him trying, to make a viable relationship out of the unfortunate situation. This is also another example of their unstable, up and down relationship or their waltz.  

The concept of waltzing is used throughout “My Papa’s Waltz” in such a manner that the reader is able to experience just a piece of the child’s hardship from reading the poem. Creatively Roethke was able to use waltzing to emulate a rocky relationship between a father and his child, as well as refer to a style of dance to structure his poem. Waltzing ties into this piece as a whole by being a symbol that directly and indirectly describes the theme, being that despite a parent’s wrong doings a child’s love and idea of love will stick even through horrible situations. The love that the child has for their parent will caused them to ignore or misinterpret the parent’s actions sending the child waltzing through life aimlessly. 
