Roethke's Smart Balance of Joy, Fear and Tension in His Poem "My Papa’s Waltz"

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke illustrates an image of a father-son romp around the kitchen that is both harsh in its play and delicate in its memory. Roethke illustrates the poem’s images from his own childhood memories. Roethke uses simple words to create puzzling phrases that could be interpreted in different ways. The poem is ambiguous due to certain word choices that have baffling double meanings. Roethke’s poem paints an image of his childhood interactions with his father. Roethke paints this picture by using ambiguity within a waltz-like structure.

In the last two stanza's, Roethke describes the vivid details of the beating. He describes how one hand clinches the boy's wrist. Clinch seems to be a rather strong word and it indicates a use of forceful grabbing. If this were a happy dance, the author would not use such a strong description. Lines 11-12 shows how the father tries to hit the son but due to his intoxication he misses and grazes the son's ear with the belt buckle. The fourth and final stanza sums up the feelings of the boy towards the father. The words seem to be directly spoken to the dad. This is not the first time this type of action has taken place. The reader gets this interpretation because the boy says," you beat time on my head"

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.

A waltz is a song in ¾ time, meaning that there are three beats in each measure. Accordingly, the poem is written to sound like a waltz, making use of different spacing and separation of the lines. Certainly, this conjures up ideas of dancing and excitement. The way Roethke uses the exact word from the title at the end of the poem ties it together, giving it a sense of peace. Although “such waltzing was not easy,” the boy’s love for his father did not falter. In many cases, when something we truly love becomes difficult, we do not give up on it. In short, the flow the author uses emphasises the presence of his adoration for his father. The words he selects highlight the wonderful memories he has of this man who played an important role in his life.Notably, Roethke provides eye catching words that illustrate scenes that appeal to the same

At first glance, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is very intriguing as the poem is very ambiguous at first. Many people that read the poem at first believe it to be about child abuse, which is very easy for readers of the 21st generation to confuse as we see everything with a dark meaning behind it. The poem is about a boy who dances with his father, hence the name of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”. Once the poem has been reread several times, we can take a closer look at what Roethke is really implying in the poem. Therefore, it becomes clear to the audience that the poem has a lighter meaning and has a more positive outlook than a negative outlook to the situation occurring in the poem.

The writer is describing that even when he cannot physically endure the smell of his father's liquor, he is still fastened to him no matter the obstacle. After all, Roethke is comparing the physical abuse to an elegant dance: the waltz. On a different note, it is vital to identify the importance the titles play in the poems.

Roethke's usage of poetic devices place emphasis on the conditions in which the speaker experiences as a young child. Although the whiskey on the father of the speaker's breath is very strong, the speaker continuously " . . .hung on like death" (3) and candidly states that "Such waltzing was not easy" (4). The usage of simile by comparing the speaker's clinging of his father's shirt to death places emphasis on the feelings and emotions that are present in the household. Knowing that his " . . . mother's countenance could not unfrown itself" is an example of imagery that further adds to the turmoil and negative events that exist in the speaker's home by allowing readers to visualize the facial expressions that are present (7-8). Not only do the poetic devices contribute to the meaning of the poem, but it also contributes to the tone as well.

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.

Roethke's word choice focuses on the mixed emotions he feels towards his father. Although the combination of the words "death" and "waltzing" in the first stanza, the poet describes a serious but amusing atmosphere around him and his father. The image of a waltz illustrates the requirement of two individuals to show the closeness of the pair. At the same time, Roethke loves his father, but he also expresses fear. The poet shows this fear through the use of words as "battered" and "scraped.”

The controversial poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike; the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to reminisce on a bittersweet memory with his father. His unclear commemoration has sparked a divide on what the true purpose of the poem is. Some may argue the poem’s purpose is to shine light on the subject of abuse, whereas others believe the father and son were sharing a moment while “roughly playing.” However, the more one examines this piece of literature, it becomes undeniable that the poem portrays a scene of a toxic father-son relationship. Although there are a

As the poem progresses, the boy’s tone becomes more playful which reinforces the serious statement about how much he cares for his father. The ‘waltz’ becomes less serious when he says, “We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf” (Roethke, 5). Using a word like romped is a deliberate attempt to make a serious event lighthearted and fun. The only reason a child would make this ‘waltz’ playful is because he wants to protect his father, whom he loves. As the last stanza explains, “You beat time on my head…Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.” (Roethke, 13-16) Again, the abuse is compared to a waltz which makes it seem lighthearted. The boy is taking a serious affair and making it into a fun event. He uses this good-natured tone because he loves his father and wants to justify this serious affair.

Roethke uses dramatic irony throughout the poem due to the fact that the reader knows what is going on, but the child does not. The reader knows that the father is under the influence of alcohol and is being abusive to the child and his mother, but the child does not know that, or he does not see it that way at least. In line four Roethke says, “Such waltzing was not easy.”. The child sees it as a graceful dance, for in this line he is saying that he cannot keep up with his father’s waltz since it is complex. That is only one side though, he might know the truth, but he just does not understand the reason for the choreography being used, that being his father’s despicable actions. He is covering the reality with the idea that he does not understand the steps to his father’s dance. He is in fact creating a happy

In the fourth and last stanza Roethke re-emphasizes his father as a laborer by once again describing his hands. These are the hands of a man who works in the dirt. A reference made to the father as he “…beat time…” (13) on the boys head, once again portrays the raucous way in which they are dancing; the father keeps time for their waltz while playfully drumming the beat on his child’s head.

The poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is a moving representation of childhood spent in a working middle class family. The speaker of this poem is a man recalling his childhood, his father and his mother through the means of a waltz. The following essay will present a detailed analysis of the dramatic situation and speaker through the explanations of the various poetic tools used in this poem such as similes, choice of words and style.

In John J. McKenna scholar review of “My Papa’s Waltz” he reviews how Roethke had so much trouble writing this poem. McKenna says that Roethke tried to balance the light and the darkness in this poem. When the poem was first written it was about a girl and her father but change it to a boy because he wanted a little more roughness in his poem. He changes some words from the first couple of times he wrote it than the real publish one. Some of the changes were from a girl to a boy, when the boy scrapped his right ear was really the forehead at first, and also the battered knuckles were palms at first. Roethke changes the title of his work six times but he finally came back to the first title “My Papa’s Waltz”. His biggest struggle was to find out either to use Papa or father and waltz and dance. Ultimately he figures out what to use because it was a great poem.