My Papa's Waltz

My Papa's Waltz

Theodore Roethke

The whiskey on your breath

Could make a small boy dizzy;

But I hung on like death:

Such waltzing was not easy.

We romped until the pans               (5)
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance

Could not unfrown itself.

The hand that held my wrist

Was battered on one knuckle;         (10)
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.

You beat time on my head

With a palm caked hard by dirt,

Then waltzed me off to bed
              (15)

Still clinging to your shirt.

“My Papa’s Waltz” is a small boy’s account of he and his father’s waltz before he is put to bed. Throughout the poem implications can be made about the family dynamic, specifically the father and son relationship. For instance, the boy clearly admires his father, clinging to him, as he “hung on like death” (L3) and his ear scrapes against his father’s belt (L12). Also, one may even go as far as to say he feels the some respect toward his mother as he notes his mother’s frown of disapproval (8). In addition, after reading the poem there was a definite sense of the fathers figure in the family as, “the man of the house.” The entire waltz is under the father’s control, the boy clings to him; he keeps time on the boy’s head and the mother a disapproving bystander makes no effort to control or stop this waltz or rather romp. Overall, the poem is a young boy’s memory of his time with his father.

There has been some controversy over the true meaning of the poem. Some argue this poem alludes to the abusive tendencies of an alcoholic father whereas some believe it is the happy memory of a young boy. These accusations of abuse can be entertained as there are mentions of pain, “My right ear scraped a buckle,” and “You beat time on my head/With a palm caked hard by dirt. In addition, Roethke’s choice of words like “battered,” “beat,” “scrape,” and “belt” can fuel the debate of the possibility of abuse. Lastly, the fact that the father is intoxicated may lead one to believe he could be in an aggravated as opposed to having a nice buzz. On the other hand, some background on Roethke can argue this is simply a boy’s happy memory. Roethke’s father died when he was 15 years old and led to bouts of mental illness. The mention of death in line 3 and the boy clinging to his fathers shirt in the first and last stanza all indicate attachment to the father, and possibly mirror Roethke’s attachment to his father. I would like to think this poem is a boy’s happy memory of his father, a father he clearly admires. Overall, the poem has many connotations its up to the reader to chose what they believe.