Through our society today, there are so many issues that need to be addressed. Whether it is through a news article or speech or somehow, something needs to be said. Poems are another way to reach individuals who appeal to a sense of rhythm and rhyme to enhance the emotions or understanding of the situation. Theodore Roethke expresses the problem of child abuse in his poem “My Papa’s Waltz.” From a child’s perspective, Roethke follows a child’s experience and thoughts to express a horrible situation. His own encounter with this case is evident in the poem which he reflects back into an ironic dance, the waltz. The form of the poem was also developed to fit the infamous grace of the dance. And within the writing itself the waltz is found when Roethke mentions the partner work between the father and son, the missing steps between two different states of the father, and the beat and tempo of the dance that could also insinuate the abuse. With elements of a poem, imagery and precise wording, Rotheke writes from a child’s eyes, the relationship between the father and child in comparison to the waltz. 

The waltz is more commonly known to be an elegant and graceful type of dancing. For the dance to be portrayed with such elegance, the rhythm of the dance is used to keep the beat of the dancers and so Roethke used the poem to represent this rhythm. The rhyme scheme is “abab cdcd efef ghgh” which leads the reader along on a dance itself with a steady beat. Having a rhythmic poem also leads the reader to be unaware of the actions that are actually being said. There could be instances where the reader might just think that the poem is about actually waltzing without realizing it. Which happens to be the case in many homes across the world. It is extremely difficult to see what happens behind closed doors and the illusion that others give. 

As the poem opens, Roethke begins to paint the picture of a dance between a father and son. The 3rd line states, “I hung on like death,” which can appear to be just a father-son bonding moment. The waltz is a partner dance, therefore when Roethke says that the child is hanging on, can simply imply that he is just trying to hang on as only dancer would to their partner. However, the word death that follows the action of hanging, it can be taken in two different ways. Since, this poem is from a child’s perspective, the child himself could just be exaggerating. Especially because children tend to put their emotions and actions out of perspective and blow their experience out of proportion. However, there could also be a sense of death during the whole situation to the child where he is really in danger. When a person is hanging on “like death” this implies that they are hanging on for their dear life, which in most cases resembles an extremely strained grip. Within the context, the audience is most likely unaware of whatever situation that is occurring, but the words still create an image of two people in a harsh environment. 

The waltz is further mentioned through the poem in the 3rd stanza. “At every step you missed” (line 11) is another correlation to the dance. Since this dance is considered to be reserved for professionals, it is assumed to be very hard to do. With that stigmatism, the waltz can be hard to practice, therefore allowing many mistakes in the dance and footwork. Therefore, the steps that the father missed, can mean that the father is just clumsy, and very unsure of his stepping. On the other hand, the steps that the father missed can also indicate the state of drunkenness that the father is in. When one is drunk, they are normally stumbling and swaying around which makes them miss their own steps. With the mentions of  “whiskey on the is breath,” (line 1), the swaying that an alcoholic carries around with them may also allude to the grace of a waltz during their steps. The similarities between missing steps of the dance and the missing steps of intoxication can be genuinely difficult for a child to differentiate which disables a child from knowing what is right and wrong. 

Nearing the end of the poem, Roethke continues his experience of dancing with his father. With the words “Beat time on my head” (line 13), The waltz, is said to have a precise beat that the dancers dance to, and so a child in this situation might feel that his father is just keeping the tempo and time of the dance. Nevertheless, with realism on the side of the audience, it is clear to see that it not just time that is being beat upon the child. When dancing, yes a dancer keeps the tempo of the song that they are dancing along to, but rarely is it beat upon the head of the partner. Therefore, when referencing to “beat,” the word can reference to the action of beating, and in this case, the beating took place on the child’s head. 

There is so much evidence to the abuse that the child has witnessed. Yet, a child can be honestly clueless about the actions that he has gone through and still think greatly of their abuser, or in this case, his father. As seen in the poem, a child can beautify abuse and mistake it for anything other than a terrible situation.  Through a child’s perspective and with realism on the audience’s side, Roethke compares the waltz to the partnership, footwork, and tempo of the dance. This experience is also coming from a child, and though a child’s eyes, it is harder to see everything realistically. Therefore, a child can be absolutely absent minded from the presence of abuse in their own household. 