
A waltz can be defined as a dance in triple time performed by a couple who as a pair turn rhythmically around and around as they progress around the dance floor. In Theodore Roethke’s controversial poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” he tells a story of a young boy and his father participating in this dance. The relationship of the father and son can be argued to be a healthy or abusive. A close study of the text reveals the father enjoying a dance with his son after a long day of work. The relationship between father and son is looked at as happy and healthy. 

When Roethke says, “With a palm caked hard of dirt” (91), it implies the father in the poem has dirty hands after coming home from a long day of work. Work most likely being a job in construction or hard labor. Roethke also describes “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (90), it shows the father in the poem has been drinking. The amount of alcohol consumed by the father can be inferred to be a great amount since it makes the boy “dizzy”. With these two quotes it is most likely that after a long-hard day of work the father decided to have a drink to relax, which doesn’t necessarily make him a bad father. 

Another instance that describes the fathers state in the poem is, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle” (91). The father’s “battered knuckle” further proves the father works at a job that covers his hand in dirt and cuts. We can also assume the father was missing steps because of the amount of alcohol he consumed which made him incapable of balance and unable to focus on the correct steps in the dance. The son’s ear is scraping the buckle because of his height not because the father is abusive. When his father happens to “miss a step” because of his intoxication level the child’s ear accidently scrapes along the belt buckle because it lines up directly next to him.

Roethke continues by saying “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf” (91).  The word “romp” can be defined as to run or play in a lively, carefree matter. This quote explains the father and son dancing and having so much fun that they become careless and begin to knock pans off the kitchen shelves. Another interpretation could also be that they were having so much fun that they decided to dance until something bad happened, in this case the pans sliding off the shelves. In many situations in life, people do bad things until they are caught or have a consequence. Roethke then says, “My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself” (91). First off, a countenance is defined as a facial expression therefore this quote is saying the mother could remove the frown from her face. This is understandable, if the father and son are reckless and destroying the kitchen, she would be disappointed. This could also be the “consequence” or reason they would stop dancing because they didn’t want to upset the mother more than they already had.

The sentence “You beat time on my head” (91), would show the father being goofy and loving by messing around with his son. Many people stomp their feet or tap along to a beat and this is another instance of that happening. Since the son is “belt buckle” height, the father taps to the beat on the son’s head. This could also be interpreted as the father repeatedly telling the child it is time for bed. So by saying “You beat time on my head” he just means he reminded him that it’s time to go to sleep. Either way the father is not actually beating the child and seems to continue an act of playfulness. 

Finally, Roethke writes “Then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt” (91). This quote shows another instance where the father after a long night of work and play dances his son off to his bed. “Clinging” to the father’s shirt is very controversial. After evaluating the text, we can clearly see that the child doesn’t want to leave his father because he works a lot and probably hardly ever sees him. The cause of this “clinging” can also be due to the fact that the boy is younger and tends to want and need his parents more than older kids. 

Theodore Roethke created “My Papa’s Waltz” to show a loving father son relationship. In the text it states, “Tragically, both his father and uncle died (of cancer and suicide, respectively) when Roethke was a teenager. These experiences would later influence his poetry” (90).  Roethke lost two important adult figures in his life so he made a new father figure in his poem to make up for it. For all we know this could be Roethke himself and his father waltzing since the narrator is young and Roethke’s father didn’t pass away till his teenage years. 

Overall after learning this information about Roethke and reading his poem, the father in the poem is very important. He carries great significance to him since he was lost so early in his life. Everyone wants to develop good relationships in life especially with parents and other important adult figures in your life. This poem truly shows that a healthy relationship is not always perfect. This is seen by the Father’s state of intoxication and his mother’s upsetting facial expressions, yet, the narrator is still happy to see his father and is “clinging” to him so he can’t leave again. 
