Negative Connotation In 'My Papa's Waltz'

Child abuse is physical mistreatment that unfortunately happens to children everywhere around the world. In the same way, the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, describes and gives the readers an insight of what child abuse is like. The poem presents a relationship between a drunken father and his son. Therefore, the setting, sensory details, and word choice of the poem allows the reader to understand the violence the little boy goes through after his father returns from work.

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers` perspective. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. Others believe that it has a hidden message of child abuse. In my point of view, the imagery and language, the symbolism, and tone in My Papas Waltz gave me the impression of the abusive relationship between the father and son, but then later realizing the positive side.

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke sparks differing opinions within the minds of many. Roethke was influenced greatly by his experiences as a young boy. For instance, his uncle and father both died when he was the age of fourteen. “My Papa’s Waltz” is written in remembrance of his father after this dreadful occurrence. The author’s use of imagery brings light to the his adoration for his father. Notably, his way of stringing together ideas reinforces the fond memories they shared. Roethke’s captivating choice of words supports his purpose to make known the love he has for this man. While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Theodore Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to bring attention to the loving relationship he had with his father.

"We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf" (5-6). In numerous poems different readers vista a variety of ways to interpret what poems actually mean. This is very much true in Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." The quote mentioned has caused many misconceptions about what the poem; "My Papa's Waltz" actually refers to. The two superior interpretations of critics are that Roethke's poem describes abuse or a dance. The abuse seems much more apparent in "My Papa's Waltz" because of the language that Roethke uses. The dance is interpreted because the boy is innocent and knows nothing else therefore the abuse seems normal. The drunkenness of his Papa, the mother's

“My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem by Theodore Roethke in which a young boy describes the actions of his father under the influence of alcohol. Like most children, the young boy has a naïve mind that observes his father's abuse differently. To the child, it is all a graceful waltz, but he is covering the truth with a happy illusion. This might come from the fact that he is a child and does not know enough or he knows too much and has to numb the pain. In “My Papa’s Waltz” Theodore Roethke uses dramatic irony, understatement, and hyperbole in order to express the idea that in order to numb the pain, one covers it with a happy illusion.

In the third stanza of the poem, Roethke points out to the readers that his father was continuously missing steps while they were waltzing. “At every step you missed / my right ear scraped a buckle.” (11-12) . This demonstrates that because of the fact that his father missed steps since he was drunk, resulted in the poet being physically hurt. This part of the poem reveals that the father is now becoming abusive. Roethke’s use of the word “death” in the first stanza, right away implies that the poet was frightened by his father. In the second stanza the poet uses the word “romp” which is associated with playing roughly. This also indicates that it was not very safe for the poet to be waltzing with his father. The mother frowning also demonstrates that she does not approve of this activity. The last stanza of the poem reaffirms that there was violence present. Roethke states “You beat time on my head / With a palm caked hard by dirt.” (13-14) . The father’s hand “caked hard by dirt” demonstrates that the father was a hard labor worker but the use of the word “beat” makes this line

The title of a poem should dictate how the reader approaches the subject that is being discussed. In the title of this poem, the speaker refers to his father as “papa”. This shows that the speaker is very close with his father in this moment. This poem is classified as a lyric, which privileges the individual moment. By looking at what a lyric is, the reader should realize that one cannot assume that the speaker felt this way about his father for his whole life. He is just talking about how he was feeling in that particular moment. “My Papa’s Waltz” is told in a dual point of view. The speaker is thinking back now as an older man about how he felt when he was a child. A “waltz” is defined as “a dance in triple time performed to music in triple time by couples who, almost embracing each other, swing round and round in the same direction with smooth and even steps moving on as they gyrate” (OED). In the poem, Roethke mimics the ¾ time of the traditional waltz with three beats per line and four lines per stanza but reverses the meter. Therefore, the poem is actually a waltz in itself.

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers`perspective. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. Other people believe that this poem has a hidden message of parental abuse. In my point of view, the imagery and language, the symbolism, and tone in the poem gave me the impression of the love between the father and son, not of an abusive relationship.

In the first two stanzas Roethke creatively uses a variety of words with positive and negative connotations to give the audience specific images with a combination of what he knew then, and

When I read, “My Papa’s Waltz,” I didn’t see any abuse going on in the story presented. I also thought the child was a little girl, not a little boy. Not quite sure why I saw the child as a girl though, I guess I just imagined a father dancing with his daughter from the title alone. Like at a wedding, when the father and daughter dance. And so, I had thought that this was an awkward dance between a father and his daughter. The father was drunk, of course, from the line, “The whiskey on your breath.” So I imagined the father kept accidently bumping into things in the house and therefore, accidently hurting his child by smashing her against counters or drawers in the house. And of course, the mother, and perhaps wife of the man, looked on in

This short poem has a lot to say about a father and son’s relationship even though it does not directly say it. Theodore Roethke published My Papa’s Waltz in 1942 and got the idea to write this poem from one of his books The Lost Son. This poem can be interpreted as an abusive relationship between a son and his father or simply a happy memory of a son dancing with his father. My Papa’s Waltz is a metaphor for a child being beat by his abusive father but plays it off as if it were just a dance.

Poetry is made to express the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the poet. The reader can interpret the poem however they see fit. Critics are undecided about the theme of Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz." Some people believe that the poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. The more convincing interpretation is that it has a hidden message of parental abuse. Careful analysis of the keywords and each individual stanza back up this theory of child abuse by a violent and drunken father.

In comparing and contrasting the poems, "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke and "Piano" by D. H. Lawrence, the reader could also compare and contrast the childhood lives of the poets themselves. Roethke's father, Otto Roethke, was a drunk and a figure of terror to his son (Seager 26). His mother was an angry woman and Theodore was a desperate child consistently in the middle of his parent's opposition (Seager 28). D.H. Lawrence's father was a drunk, almost illiterate miner (Squires and Talbot 34). His mother; however, was educated, refined, and pious, ruling the lives of her sons (Squires and Talbot 42). Reviewing the form, tone, and imagery of both poems, the attitude of the boy towards his father in Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" allows

The main form of syntax that Roethke uses is rhyme scheme. “My Papa’s Waltz” contains a simple ABAB rhyme scheme, in which many slant rhymes are used; further, this makes the poem sound similar to the way a song would. Notably, waltzes are guided dances… just as the father in “My Papa’s Waltz,” guided his son through life. Yet, it is also important to note that waltzes are meant to be simple, swift, and loving. Although waltzes are described as these things, Roethke’s childhood is described as a waltz gone wrong. He makes it obvious he faces abuse and the effects of alcoholism in his early life. As stated, the rhyme scheme used by Roethke helps develop the true main idea of this poem by shaping it as it were a song, more specifically a waltz. If the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” was a song, it would be a pessimistic and depressing one. Clearly, Roethke’s unfortunate experiences portrayed by using syntax make us one step closer to discovery the real purpose of the poem. In short, the syntax of this story shapes its meaning through rhyme scheme.

In the poem, Roethke uses diction that shows his emotions towards his father. In the first stanza, the poet says:” The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy.” Even though his father is a drunk he still loves him. He says “I hung on like death” which emphasizes the bond he has with his father while they are waltzing together. This also shows a strong sense of love and affection he has for him. Because his father’s breath reeked of whiskey, it was hard for them to waltz with ease. Also, the poet somewhat describes pain in way as well when he uses the words “battered” and “scraped” in the third stanza. He uses these word battered because he's describing that his father’s hands as worn out and beat up because he probably works really hard at his job which requires a lot of labor and the description of that word shows the reader that he works hard at what he does. With the word scraped, this shows pain because when the poet and his father waltz, his right ear scraped because his father was drunk on the whiskey and it made him a little dizzy and the poet most likely hit something which scraped his ear. The poet also uses the word “romped”; this describes that the son and the father are having fun together waltzing even though they are being careless as they are bumping into the pots and pans in the kitchen which annoys the mother as described in the second stanza in the last two lines.