Theodore Roethke, in my “My Papa’s Waltz”, incorporates heart-wrenching personification, strategic rhyme schemes, and methodical syntax, in order to narrate a tragic incident spurred by the horror of alcoholism and its effects on a family. The speaker of the poem is a small child with a drunken father and depicts the abusive actions by the father. The abusiveness that comes along with alcoholism can cause detrimental effects on a family as a whole.

Perhaps the most poignant example of Roethke’s portrayal of a broken family caused by alcohol-induced aggression lies in his incorporation of personification throughout the piece. The line, “You beat time on my head,” suggests this young child’s father hit him so hard that the punch left an impact greater than skin-to-skin contact. The inanimate idea of time left a mark on this child as he questions why his father acted in this manor. Considering the child mentions such a complex idea, this raises concern to the length of time in which this tragedy had lasted. A source could assume that such reflection could only occur if the child had truly been affected by abuse over a long period of time. In addition, the little child suggests, “My mother’s countenance could not frown upon itself,” implying that his mother did not approve of the situation at hand. While countenance cannot frown personally, the effects of family conflict and chaos resonate with the child enough for him to recognize her absence and effect upon this situation. The mother could not do anything to control the father’s actions and simply had to just witness sadly.

In tandem with the presence of personification in the poem, Roethke also constructs a rhyme scheme in the poem to intensify the scenario and underlying problem of the effects of alcohol on the family. As the piece progresses, the lines connect through the rhyming words. The words, “death,” “breath,” “bed,” and “head” form a cohesive rhythm as the poem reads, with each line connecting to the preceding elements of the story. Each rhyming thought illustrates a reality that this child faces regarding his relationship with his father. The rhyming pattern enhances the extent to which the father abused his family while under the intoxication of alcohol and creates a more personal connection to the speaker. In addition, the pattern of rhymes throughout the poem creates a cohesion of the central idea in which Roethke aimed to convey. For example, if the poem expressed a disoriented organization of lines that didn’t mesh with each other, the reader may not experience the emotion connected to the tragedy of alcoholism. The rhymes create a return to the emotion experienced in the previous lines, allowing the idea to remain consistent throughout the piece. This strategy proves effective especially when focusing on the broken relationship between a father and son due to substance abuse. 

In concert with both descriptive personification and consistent rhyming, the formation of methodical sentence structure assists in the emotional development of the piece. Each line appears similar to the one before in length and rhythm, so the piece reads almost as a rap rather than a short poem. This heightens the emotional effect of the alcoholic father abusing his child as the reader relates to the hypnotic structural techniques. The child advocates, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle.” This suggests that the father’s hands were holding onto the son tightly which is restraining and gives him more power over the boy. His hands were also beat-up from previous actions, which could imply that he was fighting or had hit someone, presumably his son. The cohesion formed through the construction of sentence structure assists in the message of the poem as a chant-like aura appears. In addition, the incorporation of the semi-colon enhances the rap-like qualities of the piece. Various aspects of sentence structure combine in order to create the mood of the piece as well as display the themes of a hurt child who aims to express his deepest feelings through anecdotes of his father. 

Roethke uses imagery prominently to reveal the emotions the little boy feels towards his father. The child gives off a sense of fear and intimidation as his father acts recklessly and stumbles throughout the house. The boy is facing an emotional struggle internally because he does not know how to feel towards his father. The lines “I hung on like death” and “Still clinging to your shirt” truly show the desperation from him to remain close to his father. The employment of a simile in the piece creates a deep figurative comparison to death, however, this child could actually be contemplating death at times after such repetitive abuse. To the reader the action seems extreme, but the devices in the poem suggest otherwise. Although he has hurt him, he is trying to look past it and stand by him. Alcoholism and abusiveness in families can cause mental conflict on the children because they want to forgive their parents in order to seek a relationship with them regardless of what has happened in the past.

The combination of syntax, personification, rhyming, and imagery combine to form a cohesive approach to a figurative work of art as well as a reaction to real-world problem—alcoholism. “My Papa’s Waltz” taps into the emotions of the readers as he/she sympathizes with the young child who experiences grief and pain. Theodore Roethke successfully conveys the effects of alcoholism on the nuclear family in his rhythmic poem by incorporating various figurative techniques. By shining a light on such a sensitive topic, Roethke sets the stage for awareness and future action to prevent such negative events from affecting children in the coming generations. 
