The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is a tragic poem depicting the actions of a violent and inebriated drunken man. The poem is from the perspective of a young boy and the drunken man’s son, the boy unfortunately, however, is not seen by the man as his son but rather his own personal punching bag. The way that it is written shows the heart-breaking way that the boy still sees his father as a kind man who loves him unconditionally even though the man is incredibly drunk and doesn’t want anything to do with kindness. Instead the only thing he cares about is his thirst for alcohol and violence as he relentlessly beats down upon his own son, his own flesh and blood, who no matter what only wants to have a father despite all of the cruelties that come with that wish. The way the boy describes it as a waltz, a calm ballroom dance, displays the way the boy wants to think about it as he ignores the cruel irony of the situation where there is no music and there is no dance only horrific abuse of a child by his own father. By looking at the word choice of the boy we can see the lies he tells himself and the irony behind them, this is significant because it shows how word usage can create entirely new meanings from what is being said.

Right off the bat in the first stanza of the poem we can see that the way the word waltzing is used in an unusual context because its meant to describe a ballroom dance but the context its used in paints it in an ironic light where instead of a fun activity its describing a nightmare scenario for any young child where a parent, the one who is supposed to look after you is the one hurting you.. This use of the word brings much more gravity to the what is happening. This use of the word is similar to how in a horror movie a lullaby is being sung by high-pitched children’s voices but in the context of the movie it feels much more sinister and ominous, like in the poem the author uses a word associated with fun and peace but in the context it’s in there is something much darker going on, something the boy may not even understand yet.  In the second stanza the word romped is used in a way that can give it multiple meanings where it can mean either a sort of rough dance where there’s more flailing of limbs than there is dancing or it can be used to describe the brutality of what is really happening to the young boy. On one hand it can be seen how a light sort of dance like a waltz can drift into one that is much more random especially between a father and his son, on the other hand it is also easy to see how romp is used as a word with a double meaning because while on the surface it sounds fun but when put into context the reader can see what the word actually means. There another line in the poem that says “you beat time” a musical term but immediately after it says “on my head” showing a context that is not nearly as innocent. The cruel irony and odd wording full of double meanings of the lies the boy tells himself shows how desperate he is not just to have peace but to also have a father.

The rhythm to the poem is short and choppy with lines that have at most five or six words in them and flowing between two lines at a time with some kind of punctuation in between every second line and the next most often a semi colon or a period. These short and choppy lined are reminiscent of a child’s lullaby when going to sleep or a waltz much like the wording throughout the poem with double meanings portraying the irony of the situation. This use of style gives an innocent feel to the poem as a whole and doesn’t give the feel of much depth to the meaning behind the words that this rhythm carries. This is reminiscent of how the boy uses wording to make the terrible abuse from his father seem like nothing more than a fun dance with his father instead of facing the harsh reality of what is going on. It also has a dancing feel to it much like a waltz which is what the rhythm of the poem is made to mimic. The poem is actually written to correspond with the time signature of a waltz furthering the argument that it was written with a much more innocent feel than what is actually happening.This kind of tone and rhythm with all of its intricacies feels like its innocent enough despite the ominous message the rest of the context provides. Again like the trailer to a horror movie the light tone gives a calming feeling normally but when put into a different context it makes everything that much scarier and ominous as it goes on. This pushes the message to the reader making it that much more poignant and drawing more sympathy than if he was being straight forward with what was actually happening. The deceptive and ironic use of this style is very effective for these very reasons giving much more power behind the message of the passage for the reader.

Perhaps the most convincing and tragic point is that once again its from the perspective of a young child, someone dependent on people like his parents to take care of him but even they neglect him. This reality is much to cruel to face especially for a young boy so he created his own version of what happened in order to sugar coat the darkness that surrounded him. Because it is from the view of a child explains why all the elements are made in a style that would be associated with a children’s song and using language that would mask the reality that is happening to the poor kid. They would want to do everything they could to either flush that memory out of their head or repress it deep down or even like it is in this case hidden behind the idea of something that is much more pleasurable and fun for a child. It is also written this way because people are hardwired to try to help kids in trouble or in danger. The writer took advantage of this to help push his message and hopefully grab more sympathy from an audience. 

The overall style, language, and tone of this poem is very innocent with a child-like feel to it. In reality its hiding something much darker and much more sinister than is first implied even by the title. The use of dance and musical language throughout the poem disguises the situation without any context but as soon as what is being said is look passed the truth of what’s going on is revealed. The style of the poem is written in the style of a fun dance and a peaceful child’s lullaby but the words that the rhythm carries are much darker than initially felt by any reader paying attention to the style. And the narrative is written such that it’s from the perspective of a child and once put into context it is meant to grab emotions from the reader using their basic biological wiring to feel sympathy and to feel sorry for the pain that a child is going through. All of this ironic use of language is clearly designed to bring more gravity and power to the reality of the terrible situation the child is going through.