The poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, by Theodore Roethke seems to be about an innocent dance between a father and his son, but by looking a little deeper, the poem speaks of a hard relationship between a young boy and his father. Dictionary.com defines a Waltz as, “a ballroom dance, in moderately fast triple meter, in which the dancers revolve in perpetual circles, taking one step to each beat.”  This definition illustrates a scene of two individuals on an open dance floor going step by step with each other.  This is far from what is actually happening in the poem.  Another definition of a Waltz is, “Something that presents no difficulties and can be accomplished with little effort”.  

The father drinks heavily often, which puts a strain on the familial relationship.  Many aspects of Roethke’s poem indicate a darker tone than the title establishes.  The repetition of dark words—death, clinging, battered, etc.—illustrates a fear within the child.  Other sections of the text show the household as an unsafe area for the child.  

From the beginning of the poem, “The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy;” (lines 1-2), Roethke establishes a classic indicator of abuse.  The fact that the father is drunk, and that this is the first scene created for the reader, is telling all on its own.  Roethke dedicates the first two lines of the story to tell the reader that the father is drunk.  Realizing the importance of this, the reader can safely assume that this is not an uncommon event.  The father is most likely an alcoholic. Looking at the poem from this angle, the reader gets a feeling of abuse.  Directly following these lines, however, the speaker says, “But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy.” (3-4).  These lines also show another sign of abuse through the child’s attempts to please his father.  Children who are raised by abusive parents tend to try to please their parents more than the typical child would, as to not be beaten or punished.  The dance is hard on the child, but he is doing his best to keep up with his father.  Word placement is always important in poetry, but word choice is also extremely telling.

Roethke’s choice of words in this poem helps to establish a dismal setting.  The first dark word used is “death” (3).  There are countless words that Roethke could have inserted here that would not have the same feeling as death has.  Death is an extremely strong word, which alludes to pain, harm, and fear.  By choosing the word death, Roethke is trying to show how the child is feeling.  This is also held true through “battered” (10).  Battered is often used to describe those who have been abused.  By using a synonym for abuse, instead of just bruised or injured, illustrates the point he is trying to get across.  On top of that, the fact that the father’s knuckle is battered, makes the reader wonder how his knuckle got battered.  The most logical explanation is from hitting the child.  The word “beat” (15) is similar to battered, as they both are synonyms for abuse.  Again, Roethke chose the word “beat” (15) to symbolize the literal abuse the child was going through.  The final dark word used in the poem is “clinging” (20).  Clinging is often used to depict a person having a hard time holding on.  Whilst being carried, most children would snuggle in their father’s arms trustingly.  By saying, “Still clinging to your shirt.” (20), Roethke is showing a scene of a child trying to not be dropped by his father.  Word choice can be very telling, however, symbolism can also be very powerful.

One of the strongest lines of symbolism is, “My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself.” (7-8).  This line shows that the mother is not happy with what is happening, yet she does not say anything to the father about it; she just lets it continue.  This may be because if she intervened, she would be punished as well.   Another line that helps depict a darker undertone is, “The hand that held my wrist” (9).  This may seem like an innocent line, but, when dancing, you usually hold each other’s hands, not the wrist.  This illustrates the father being aggressive rather than gentle towards his child.  Many times people who suffer from abuse end up with bruises on their wrists.  One of the leading weapons used by abusive parents, more specifically fathers, is a belt.  This is alluded to in the quote, “My right ear scraped a buckle.” (12).  The full quote, “At every step you missed / My right ear scraped a buckle.” (12) could mean every time the father drinks, the child gets beaten.  

In conclusion, it is quite obvious that the father is a very abusive man.  Through his excessive drinking, the father creates a horrible environment for a small child.  The waltz in which the story is based around, is not a literal dance, but a representation of what the speaker goes through with his father.  Dictionary.com defines a Waltz as, “a ballroom dance, in moderately fast triple meter, in which the dancers revolve in perpetual circles, taking one step to each beat.”  This definition illustrates a scene of two individuals on an open dance floor going step by step with each other.  It shows very fluent movement, which is far from what is actually happening in the poem.  Another definition of a Waltz is, “an easy victory or accomplishment” (Dictionary.com).  This definition fits the poem much better.  The father can easily control his child and fling him around the house like a rag doll.  
