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. In the poem, the young narrator, uses a nostalgic tone to reflect back on memories with his drunken father dancing him to his bed. 

Roethke says, “With a palm caked hard of dirt” (91).  This implies the father in the poem has dirty hands after coming home from a long day of work. Knowing the father in the poem has dirty hands we can therefore assume that he doesn’t have a normal white-collar job but instead, a hard labor job. Roethke also describes that the father had been drinking by saying “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (90). The amount of alcohol consumed by the father can be inferred to be a great amount since it makes the boy “dizzy.” Looking further into this we can understand that after a hard day of labor it makes sense that the father took a drink to relax himself.  It’s even more so justifiable knowing that he is supporting his family.

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 scraping the buckle also makes since because we know the narrator is a young child so their height would make their head match up right next to their father’s waist. Therefore, putting these things together we can see the child’s ear scraping on their dad’s belt buckle due his inability to balance when dancing together.

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 metaphorical for the pans where they weren’t actually falling off the shelves but just said to express the amount of fun they were actually having. 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 can remove the frown from her face. This is understandable, if the father and son are reckless and destroying the kitchen, she would be disappointed. Usually throughout society, and even today, the kitchen is looked at as the mother’s “area” and especially if she’s a stay-at-home mom/housewife. This is important to see that the mother is actually only frowning because her housewife duties to keep her personal space (the kitchen) clean and get her young child to bed early have been interfered with by her husband.

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 hitting the child hard on the head but just giving him loving taps to play along with the child that hasn’t seen his working father all day.

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 controversial. After evaluating the text, it clearly shows 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 poem with a father figure in his poem to create a sense of nostalgia for himself and recreate the memories he once had with his father who was no longer present.

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. 
