A literary text can be interpreted in numerous ways depending on how the reader decides to approach it. The poem My Papa’s Waltz, written by Theodore Roethke, is not just simply about a waltz the narrator shares with his Papa. To discover the poem’s meaning, it must be broken down into its smaller components.  Although the narrator never directly comes out and says it, the diction and striking imagery used in My Papa’s Waltz alludes to my interpretation of the poem’s higher meaning, one that includes a loving relationship between a father and son affected by alcoholism and physical abuse. 

Despite what the title indicates, the meaning of the poem itself is not simply about a waltz. However, the structure and rhyme scheme of the poem follow the rules of the dance. The poem has an ABAB rhyme scheme, which means the last word of every other line rhymes. This not only adds a beat to the poem, similar to a beat needed to waltz, but it also adds fluidity to the poem in general and makes it easier to read and comprehend.  Comparable to the rhyme scheme of the poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe, the rhyme scheme here lifts the mood of the dark natured poem. It does so by making the reading experience more pleasurable even though the topic may not be. Without the rhyme scheme, the poem would lose its dance-like tone and that would take away from the poem itself.  

Now going back to the higher meaning of the poem, this waltz is much more than a waltz. The narrator’s Papa is a hardworking man, his “palm[s] caked hard by dirt” highlights that (Roethke 14). The use of words such as death, battered, scraped, and beat insinuates abuse occurring. All of these words have a negative connotation behind them. The author’s use of these words throughout the poem, paints a clear picture of what is actually occurring between the father and son. None of those words would be normally used to describe a waltz. Holding ones hand is a gesture of love and affection but the line “The hand that held my wrist, Was battered on one knuckle;” portrays an image of aggression and violence (9-10). His battered knuckle indicates violence has occurred before and the addition of alcohol to the mix of his pressure and stress from work only makes the situation more volatile. Research shows that between twenty-five and fifty percent of domestic violence incidents begin with drinking (Pugh). The first few lines of the poem, “The whiskey on your breath, Could make a small boy dizzy;” are a direct indicator that alcohol is present and there are no positive connotations along with it (Roethke 1-2). The mention of the strong scent of alcohol, specifically whiskey, emphasizes that the household environment the boy is living in is a dysfunctional one. 

At the same time this poem paints a picture of an alcoholic and abusive father, it is also a poem about love. Dancing in poetry symbolizes love, and a waltz in particular is usually an intimate dance shared between two people who love each other. Although “Such waltzing was not easy,” behind all the violence, is a loving relationship between a father and son (4). The boy loves his father even though he hates what he does to him. The boy says, “At every step you missed, My right ear scraped a buckle,” (11-12). This line symbolizes not only the pain occurring in that moment by the missed step, but also the pain, both physical and emotional; he has endured because of his father. He understands that his father works hard and has made some mistakes in his life and has accepted that he might have to take the brunt for some of those mistakes. We see the love lingering because after everything his father has done he “Still cling[s] to [his] shirt,” before going to bed (16).  The boy’s mother shares this love as well. At the end of the day, he is his father and he is just working hard to provide for them.

The mother seems to play a similar role in the poem as the boy does. She accepts the situation and that there is not much she can do about it. However, as she watches the boy and his father “[romp] until the pans, Slid from the kitchen shelf;” her “countenance, Could not unfrown itself” (5-6). She is not happy that they are making so much noise and a mess of the kitchen but is too afraid to speak up in fear she will add fuel to the fire and anger her drunken husband more. She has this permanent frown upon her face because of the environment she is constantly living in. It is not a healthy one but it seems that she has given up hope on taking her son and leaving her husband. This is the man that provides for her and her child, she may have no other options, so she continues to be unhappy and stay there bound to him and this life.      

In order to fully understand a literary text, the reader must come up with their own interpretation what they are reading. Without breaking down and dissecting the poem My Papa’s Waltz into its smaller pieces, the reader would lose sight of the true meaning behind it. They would fail to recognize that this poem is about more than the son recalling a positive memory from his childhood of waltzing with his father in the kitchen. Rather, this poem is more about a negative memory from his childhood. The diction and striking imagery used in My Papa’s Waltz alludes to the poem’s higher meaning, one that includes a loving relationship between a father and son affected by alcohol and physical abuse.
