Throughout Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” child abuse from a child’s perspective is expressed. Negative connotations regarding abuse are consistently repeated throughout the text, with the use of lines such as “hung on like death,” and “you beat time on my head.” Adults are aware that abuse, especially toward children, is an extremely serious topic. The child narrator fails to make this connection. They compare the abuse to a well-known dance, the Waltz, in order to make what is truly happening appear less tragic. The child also uses the verb “romp,” referencing something playful, to describe the interactions between the father and child. This demonstrates how they do not completely understand their circumstances or what is happening to them. There is an evident tension between the child’s perspective, a romantic view on the situation, and the actuality of the situation that is occurring. In “My Papa’s Waltz,” Roethke expresses this tension by pitting the romantic language throughout the poem against the reality of the situation. 

In Roethke’s third stanza, the narrator makes a comparison between waltzing and abuse. The father, because he is always drunk, is constantly misstepping, resulting in the child being scraped by a “buckle.” He writes, “the hand that held my wrist\was battered on one knuckle\at every step you missed\my right ear scraped a buckle” (Roethke lines 9-12) to expose the reader to how horribly the child is treated. The child perceives the father’s movements as waltzing, but in reality, the father is harshly abusing them. When Roethke references the “holding of the wrist,” it can be viewed from two different perspectives. From the child’s point of view, this behavior is completely normal. The child assumes that the gesture of grabbing onto another’s wrist is simply a part of waltzing and a way for the father to continue the dance. They do not know any better because, due to their age, they have not experienced the terrible circumstances existing in the world. Sadly, this gesture of “holding the wrist” is, in fact, a sign of abuse. Many parents do not hold their child’s wrist, but rather hold their hand as a sign of love and affection. The father grabs onto his child’s wrist to show dominance over them. The word “missed” from this stanza can also indicate two different ideas. The child assumes that their father is accidentally missing steps while waltzing, as dancing can display one’s clumsiness. This results in them accidentally striking their head on their father’s belt, or “buckle,” because they are significantly shorter than the grown man. “Missed” actually indicates that the father is beating his child with a belt, and the “buckle” is scraping the right side of their ear. This is not simply the father missing steps while waltzing, but is much more. The audience learns of this abusive behavior from not only the child’s perspective, but also the mother’s. 

Further into his poem, Roethke reveals the mother’s reaction to the situation that is occurring in order to reinforce the idea of child abuse. From this, the audience is able to gain more insight into what is truly happening in this family. He states “we romped until the pans\slid from the kitchen shelf;\ my mother’s countenance\ could not unfrown itself” (Roethke lines 5-8). The reader is able to conclude, from the mother’s facial expressions, that what the father is doing is not “fun and games.” She is unable to stop frowning due to her husband’s constant mistreatment of their child. The word “romped,” from the child’s point of view, indicates that their interaction with their father is playing and frolicking in the kitchen. This horseplay results in the two accidentally knocking a few pans off of the kitchen shelves. In reality, the word “romped” indicates that the child is not just rough-housing with their father but is actually being handled aggressively. The child is physically being thrown into the kitchen shelves, resulting in the pans falling. Once again, they fail to make this connection due to the fact that they are so young. The child is naïve and inexperienced in the world, and they fail to realize what is happening. 

The audience observes the key point of “waltzing” again as the father is putting his child to bed. Roethke writes, “then waltzed me off to bed\still clinging to your shirt” (lines 15-16). The word “waltzed,” as the child perceives it, is simply the father dancing while putting them to sleep. The child is unaware that, in reality, this “waltzing” is the father staggering because he is intoxicated. The reader previously learns he is an alcoholic at the beginning of the poem. The word “clinging” is a key indicator word in these lines, as it can be interpreted from two different perspectives. In the child’s eyes, they are “clinging,” or holding, onto their father’s shirt while attempting to keep up with the steps in the Waltz. Unfortunately, this “clinging of the shirt” is another indication of abuse. The child must cling to their father because they were beaten so badly and are unable to walk to bed without the support of his body. 

Throughout the poem “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke focuses on one main theme, abuse from a child’s perspective. He pits the romantic view of the situation, which the child possesses, against the reality of what is happening. Roethke does this in order to show the tension between the two viewpoints. Children are often naïve to the tragedies and misfortunes that happen in life because of their youth and inexperience. The narrator, who is also the main character in “My Papa’s Waltz,” is a perfect example of how children perceive child abuse; they do not portray nor view it as something negative. This particular child compares their abuse to dancing the Waltz and romping with their father. They do not realize that the treatment they are receiving from their father is dangerous and detrimental to them. By having the abuse presented through a child’s point of view, Roethke reinforces the idea that children can make terrible and tragic situations seem bearable. 
