Every dance tells a story. From the costumes that are worn, to the music that accompanies it, and the moves that are danced, all help the audience create a mood towards the piece. In Thomas Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, he writes a story about a little boy and his father who “waltz” around the house together. I find this poem especially interesting for many reasons. The way Roethke uses the language of the poem allows the reader’s mind to ponder what kind of attitude they want to have towards his piece. In Thomas Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, the use of language and the way that he pieces the lines together, let the reader look at this poem with positive or negative or even both.  

Throughout Theodore Roethke’s poem, he uses certain words and expressions to try to relay a positive attitude and mood for the poem. In the entirety of the poem, he relates the movement between the little boy and his father to the waltz which is a beautiful and elegant dance. The waltz is also a repetitive dance which we can infer meaning that the action between the little boy and the father happened more than once. In line 5, Roethke writes, “We romped until the pans/ slid from the kitchen,” (Carolina Reader 91). Romped means to play roughly and energetically so we can infer that Roethke meant for it to describe the fun but sloppy way the son and the father danced around the kitchen. In line 3, Roethke writes, “But I hung on like death:/ such waltzing was not easy,” (CR 90). What I inferred from him writing this was that the son was having so much fun that he hung onto his father because he didn’t want to let go. Through words and expressions, Thomas Roethke helps paint a positive attitude towards his poem, “My Papa’s Waltz.”

On the other side of this poem, Thomas Roethke uses language to help the reader find a negative attitude towards the poem. He references alcohol and beatings which helps the reader insinuate that he’s writing about a father abusing his child. In the first line he writes, “The whiskey on your breath/ could make a small boy dizzy,” (CR 90). When I first read this poem, those opening lines stuck to me for the rest of the poem. I couldn’t help relate everything I read back to the fact that there was whiskey on the father’s breath. In line 12, Roethke writes, “My right scraped a buckle,” (CR 91). What I interpreted from that was that the father was using perhaps a belt buckle of some sort to inflict pain on the child. Those few lines may not seem like much but carry such a rich attitude due to either previous experience or stories that you hear about abuse. 

Roethke also uses words throughout the poem that could flip from the negative side to the positive side or vice versa. In lines 7 and 8, he writes, “My mother’s countenance/ could not unfrown itself,” (CR 91). I feel as if this could go both ways for two reasons. The one for the negative aspect has to deal with whether or not the mother is too afraid to intervene between the father and son to avoid herself from getting abused as well and it frowning at the actions that are occurring right in front of her. My other reason for the positive aspect is that her facial expression could not unfrown itself it a joking matter. That the father and son waltzing around the kitchen and is making a mess and for that reason she is frowning, but it is not related in a disapproving way. Another instance where I found a word that could go both ways was in line 13 where Roethke writes, “You beat time on my head,” (CR 91). At first I took beat in the literal sense where the father was beating his son and he was expressing that as keeping the beat for the waltz. But the positive aspect is whether the reader does take it as him keeping the beat on the child’s head. Suppose the father is tapping 1,2,3 on the son’s head as the waltzed around the house. Thomas Roethke uses his skill in language and expression to give the reader the ability to dictate what the attitude is through words that have multiple reasons. 

In Thomas Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, the use of language and the way that he pieces the lines together, let the reader look at this poem with positive or negative or even both.  The way Roethke paints an attitude with his words in complete genius. He structures his lines to allow the reader’s mind to ponder whether or not the poem is positive or negative, and that is why this poem is so interesting. In all, Roethke is an artist and he uses the words as paint to make a beautiful, interesting poem. 

