While reading, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, I began to reflect on some of the fondest memories that so many children make with their fathers when they were once a child. While gone due to work and travel, seeing my father return home from a long day at work or a venture across the sea felt more like running down the stairs at Christmas than that of a simple welcome home hug. While angry at times and incapable of understanding, seeing my father after a long day shattered my selfish desires of wanting to keep my father at home, and I began to understand the sacrifice that he had too and was willing to make every day. The feelings of his sweet kisses on my salty head as he tucked me into bed were only some of the memories I began to feel as I reflected on the poem by Roethke. “My Papa’s Waltz” is about a young boy who longs for the attention of his father. When his father returns home from a long day, the boy awaits the short amount of time he gets to spend with him. Roethke’s exceptional use of literary techniques like similes, irony and imagery, along with a sense of affection and love, and emotional translation are what allow the words from “My Papa’s Waltz” to transform themselves from words to a mirror of memories where the reader is left standing in their own reflection. 

 Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan and spent most to all of his time with his uncle and father in their 25-arce greenhouse. Spending time with nature like that was a big influence on his writings. Roethke loved getting to spend time with “the guys.” What young boy wouldn’t love getting to spend quality “guy time” with their uncle and father? When he was 14, he experienced something that a teenager should never experience. His father passed away of cancer and his uncle committed suicide. According to Bio.com, Roethke experienced some depressive episodes that would come and go. This is just one example of how Roethke uses his past to influence his writings. I can imagine Roethke writing “My Papa’s Waltz” thinking about his father, which makes us, the reader, be emotionally attached to the poem because some of us can relate to situations like that. 

Roethke uses many literary devices to portray this feeling of emotion throughout the poem. The quote, “At every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle” (Roethke Line #) really connected me with this poem. This is a perfect example of imagery because the reader can imagine how the child is feeling when he is standing atop of his father’s feet cherishing that quality time with him after a long day of not seeing him. When Roethke uses this quote, it proves that every time his father would miss a step in their “waltz” before bed, we can assume that he was tired after a long day of work and occasionally would miss a step because of it.  That same quote is also how he uses irony to portray a sense of uneasiness. By titling the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” and by the words he uses in the poem, it seems like what is going on is anything but a waltz. Theodore sneaks a simile in the beginning of the poem that says, “but I hung on like death” (Roethke Line #). This quote is significant to how I interpreted the poem because when I read this, I imagined myself and how I used to dance with my father when I was a little girl. I also thought about how the little boy felt when he saw his father walking in the door at night. I think he “hung on like death” (Roethke Line #) because he didn’t know the next time he was going to get quality time like that with his father. I knew that my father had had a long day at work, but I wanted every moment I could get with him before I had to go to bed. When Theodore uses the words, “the whisky on your breath” in the opening line, I think he says that because the father is human. After a long day at work I know my father would go to the bar to sit back and have a drink after a long day. It only makes us human. The fact that he still makes time to dance with his boy shows that he loves him enough to stand around for a couple extra minutes with his boy on his feet and dance with him before bedtime. These quotes make me feel as if I’m in the room watching the little boy and his father dance. 

The bond between a father and their child is unbreakable. There is nothing like the connection the two have. When we are young, our fathers are the ones that we consider our “safe place.” Whenever I would get a bump, scrape, or bruise I would always run to my dad asking him to fix it. Then when we get older, their help changes to fixing bigger problems, like: broken down cars, paying phone bills, and helping with all the problems that life throws at us. Because my father owns his own business, he works a lot, which means he has to travel. When I was younger it would break my heart to see him leave, but when he came back it was the greatest joy. Through the constant work and travel, my father has now taught me the true meaning of sacrifice. Owning your own business is tough work and requires long days at the office. After long days sometimes you need to sit back, relax, and have a drink, and I did not understand that as a child. Now that I am older I see why and how life can be so stressful so I now understand why we need time set aside for ourselves. 

This sacrifice also taught me true love, and while reading this poem, I was reminded of this now as I live far away from home. Roethke used multiple literary devices that led me to become emotionally engaged with this poem. His use of irony, similes, and imagery allowed him to connect with the reader in this way. I’m sure if I read more of his poems I would get similar interpretations of them because of researching his past and realizing that most of his writings are based on past experiences in his life. Through reading Roethke’s poem, I am finally able to understand that the tables have now turned, and my father feels as I did when I was a child when I simply return home from school to his loving arms after being gone for so long. 
