Theodore Roethke’s, “My Papa’s Waltz,” is a poem about a young boy’s struggle with his inebriated father on one particular night. Throughout the poem, Roethke utilizes descriptive phrases to help the reader understand two key elements of his work. One of those key elements is the barbaric nature of the drunken father. The other key element of this poem is the profound distress of the boy as this traumatizing encounter ensued. These two elements together help convey a major theme of Roethke’s poem, which is the boy’s desperate desire for this nightmare of a night to come to a close. Roethke portrayed the boy’s utter desperation with the use of striking imagery, expressive similes and imperative word choice.

Roethke introduces his piece with descriptive vocabulary, stating, “The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy” (lines 1-2). The author’s word choice is important here because it describes the father’s level of intoxication. The fact that the father’s breath reeks of whiskey so strongly that it could “make a small boy dizzy,” tells the audience that he is not merely tipsy, but extraordinarily drunk. Roethke’s vital word choice here sets the tone for the aggressive nature of the father’s actions later on in the poem. Furthermore, the aggressive behavior of the father is what causes the boy to act so desperately throughout the poem.   

 The inaugural example of the boy’s desperate behavior appears in the first stanza. Here, Roethke states, “But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy” (lines 3-4). The author uses simile here to thoroughly explain the gravity of the situation. The simile used here, “but I hung on like death,” describes how desperately the boy is holding onto his father, trying to minimize any further damage. Additionally, Roethke’s word choice illustrates the boy’s experience to the reader. For example, Roethke uses the term, “waltzing,” to describe the way the father is interacting with his son. Their altercation can be described as a “waltz” because the father is drunkenly moving around while the boy is holding onto his body. These details, implemented by Roethke’s use of literary elements, illustrate the hostile environment that the boy is suffering in.  

The second depiction of the boy’s tiring endeavor is portrayed in stanza two. In this instance, Roethke dictates, “We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf; / My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself” (lines 5-8). Roethke uses imagery here to illustrate the chaos of the situation in the kitchen and the distress of the mother as she watched everything unfold. Roethke’s description of the scene suggests that the altercation escalated to the point where objects were being dislodged from the kitchen cabinets. Also, his characterization of the mother tells the reader that she was observing her son struggle from a distance, with a disheartened and hopeless appearance portrayed by her body language. These details imply that the boy desperately looked over to his mother for help as he dealt with his father, but she unfortunately could not offer any assistance.  

A third illustration of desperation materialized in the third stanza. This time, Roethke says, “At every step you missed / My right ear scraped a buckle” (lines 11-12). These lines are referring to the “waltz” that the boy was forcefully participating in with his father. Roethke mentions that the father missed steps, clearly due to his intoxicated state of being. Also, the boy’s right ear scraped a buckle because he is about waste high, in height, so when the father stumbled, the boy scraped his ear on his father’s belt buckle. The details that Roethke includes here suggest that the boy was holding onto his father out of desperation again, thus, resulting in the boy scraping his ear every time his father drunkenly stumbled. This interpretation further adds to the idea that the boy is exhibiting desperate behavior throughout the poem in order to survive the perils of his father's actions.

The final appearance of desperation in this poem can be found in the last two lines. Here, Roethke closes with, “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (lines 15-16). These two lines are the most obvious examples of the boy’s desperation that was so prevalent throughout the poem. Additionally, the details Roethke includes in the final line, make it the most revealing and important line of the entire piece. In the final line, Roethke communicates to the reader that as they make their final “waltz” off to the boy’s bed, the boy is “clinging” to his father’s shirt. Roethke, once again, uses imagery here to adequately convey the feeling of the scene to his audience. The imagery here illustrates the defeated boy, struggling to hold onto his father, as he endures the last drunken trek of the night. These details suggest that because of how draining this experience has been for the boy, he could do nothing more than to “cling” to his father’s shirt. This interpretation shows the audience how physically and emotionally broken down the boy is at this point in the poem. Finally, the boy’s clear state of defeat is further evidence for why he is so desperately longing for this experience to be over. 

Throughout “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke affectively utilizes a few different literary techniques to enhance the audience’s understanding of the poem. The techniques he most frequently uses are imagery and simile. Time after time, Roethke uses imagery to illustrate the miserable experiences of the boy that night. He also uses imagery to convey the feeling of a character, for example, the mother in the kitchen and the boy in the last scene. Roethke’s implementation of imagery helps the audience understand how petrifying the boy’s experience truly is for him. Similarly, he uses simile to epitomize the seriousness of the boy’s situation. He employs these two techniques to provide the poem with significant detail that is crucial for the audience to understand his theme. The theme of this poem is the boy’s sincere desperation for this abusive night to end, which Roethke develops through the extensive use of imagery and simile. 
