
Many authors write because they want to make a point. They have something to say, something that they want to express to the reader. Roethke’s poem My Papa’s Waltz is an interesting piece because he leaves the interpretation up to whoever is reading it. In the poem, Roethke seems to be recalling a memory with his father, but it is difficult to determine whether it is a positive or a negative one. The words that he uses could easily have connotations that could go either way depending on how you look at them or want to perceive them. Throughout my personal experience in reading this poem, I came to the conclusion that it could be either. The first time I glanced over it I thought there was no doubt it was a negative experience. After reading over it a few more times I then realized that it really depends on whether you as the reader take the words from Roethke’s poem literally or figuratively.

Let’s think literally here for a moment. “Waltzing” and “romped” both seem to be pretty positive words. When you combine them with sentences talking about a father and a son dancing together it all comes across as a very fond time in which the author is reminiscing upon a memory with his own father. The whole poem itself feels like a night in which a little boy is waiting on his hard working dad to get home so they can spend some time together. “You beat time on my head/ With a palm caked hard by dirt/ Then waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt” (13-16). When reading this stanza the second time around it occurred to me that this sounds like something any child would enjoy. The father gets home from a long work day, the son steps on the dad’s work shoes so they can dance together, the father pats the child’s head to the time and rhythm of the dancing, and then takes him to bed while they are still spending their time together. This all just seems to be some innocent poem written by some reminiscent author.

Now, let’s start over from the beginning of the poem. This time we will take a figurative approach to the author’s words. We can even use a line from the same stanza to compare how big of a difference perspective makes. “You beat time on my head” (13) could also be referencing an abusive relationship, as this is exactly what my mind thought the first time I read it. Another example comes in the very first line of the poem. The author from the beginning sounds like he is not too fond of this memory as he recalls “The whisky on your breath” (1), referencing the father. This made the impression on me that all the events in this poem happened out of a drunken rage and the mother was forced to watch idly by as it states “My mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (7,8). The father was not only abusive to the son but to the mother as well, leaving her no reason to try and stop his actions. 

Trying to decide whether the author enjoyed this memory or if he is haunted by it is a very difficult thing to determine. Each time you read the poem you can interpret it differently than you had the time before. While reading through it around the third time, it suddenly came to my attention that you don’t have to decide on one or the other at all. Through personal experiences in my life I have witnessed people who I know try and defend someone’s actions that they love, sometimes they even try to change the story to make it sound better than it really is. This could be exactly what Roethke is doing in this poem. The author loves his dad, he respects him, he would never want to make it seem like his father was a bad man after everything he had done for the family. This is exactly why Roethke might want to look back on his life and think of everything as a positive. As a young boy you want nothing more than to grow up to be just like your dad. He’s your hero and you strive to make him proud. I personally believe the author is trying to almost suppress this memory by changing all of the negatives into positives so that he can recall warm, fun memories with his father rather than negative ones because he wants to think of his dad as a great man. 
