My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke

My Papa Waltz is a poem that, when read literally, describes an oppressive father-son relationship. The poem's figurative sense, on the other hand, depicts a loving and caring father-son relationship. The use of words such as "With a palm caked hard by mud" in "My Papa's Waltz" may reflect the abusiveness of the father who comes and hands in a cake with dirty hands. The reader can view this poem as an abusive father who often makes his son's life difficult. After the first reading of the poem, the reader might think Roethke portrayed the scenario in a dark, depressed tone. In line one and two, “the whiskey on your breath, could make a small boy dizzy” could make the reader or a person jump into a conclusion that the father is a drunkard who always comes home late and drunk. He abuses his son because of his drunkenness and his not always taking care of his family. These and such words other sentences from this poem may make one conclude abusive father. On line three, “but I hung on like death” also are few words that can lead to the assumption of much darker meaning behind the poem. Here is because the author used the words death and battered which are not joyful to people because they bring the sadness to life. These may make a reader think negatively about this poem and conclude how bad the father was to his son as an irresponsible parent. “The whiskey on your breath” in line one shows the carelessness nature of the father, especially to small a child. In the poem, the writer shows signs that the father was not a loving dad nor a caring one literary. Mostly, the father was coming home late, and never spends time with his son since most of his day he was at work or drinking. The scenario apparently makes one interpret this poem as a physically abusive dad who always abuses his son. The drunkards in most cases can beat the children or the child for no reasons because he's not in his proper sense. The reader may interpret this poem as one where the father is physically abusive and a drunkard who never has time to prepare any meal for his son. Since the mother of the child is not around in this poem, the father coming home drunk and late shows he is not responsible. The child could have been spending all day hungry, and the father would not notice since he would come late didn’t have time know how the child spent his time or whether he ate all day. In this situation, the father could have been abusing his kid physically by not giving him food, and that could make the reader misinterpret the poem as a physically abusive father. The poem my papa’s waltz explains the proper relationship between a father and son; The figurative meaning of the poem shows a drunk but caring father who always dances with his child till he sleeps and puts him to bed. The poem has such a great message about the undying love between the father and son. The drunken father's breath could make a small boy dizzy, yet the boy persevered “But I hung on like death.” The word death is relevant; usually, used in most love poems to show truthfulness, and complete love, like in marriage one promises to love to death, to never leave even if what is left is just a memory as happening in this poem (Roethke and Foundation). According to the author, the boy will love his father to end; even if, a high bitterness remains in the memory because of drunkenness. Another fact in which the love of the son for the father is depicted is the way in which the father is described, and the poet shows his love to the father and his longing to him, is by calling him “papa” and not father. Most children use papa because of the special bond between children, and their fathers have, showing a particular kind of love. The title will mislead, readers “My papa’s waltz” most people will expect to find in the poem about the father's kind and loving nature, dancing this gentle dance, not in one’s eye, not the poet, a beating father. Together with all these descriptions of the papa as a poor man, one can depict compassion in the papa as he dances with his son. Already one has seen him as a failure and a drunkard maybe a lot under his breath reeks with whiskey, his dirty hands caked hard by dirt, and are battered on one knuckle, all these things shows a poor man and someone needs love (Roethke and Foundation). Roethke uses symbolism throughout to demonstrate the love between the father and show dancing slow in rhythmic song. In “my papa’s waltz,” the readers expect to see this cohesive partnership and fundamental relationship between the father and child, as by reading the title of the poem. The dance of Waltz to the roughhousing before bed between father and son clearly shows the complete love. Line 14, “with a palm caked with dirt,” and line 9-10, “the hands that held my wrist bettered on the knuckle,” made me believe that this father was a hardworking man. Roethke used imagery to show his readers that the father of this kid made some forgivable mistake, but he was working hard for his family and still came home after a hard night’s work to enjoy a play with his son (Roethke and Foundation). The author continues to show the loving memory of the boy and his father just by a Waltz. The presentation of words allows the reader to imagine this sometimes too rough housing was a dance between father and son (Roethke and Foundation). Roethke used specific terms that are often referred when it comes to dancing. In line 1, the author writes, “At every step you missed.” This makes his readers see a linked dance between the two with lines, such as “You beat time on my head” most readers might think it is physical beating, but it’s just the son’s way of saying waiting for the papa. In spite of the father drunkenness, he would still come home to his son and have a dance before putting him to bed shows the proper relationship between them. From the poem, the dancing was so vigorous that the pans slid from the kitchen shelf, “such waltzing was not easy” and also made a change in the boy’s life. The poet tells of the father “beats time on my head” meaning the beatings made his childhood go away and time went faster for him, hitting him as his father did and made him mature faster (Roethke and Foundation). The action from father’s son shows that he care for his son even if he was drunk at times, though he made some wise decision about his family, by making his son happy. According to Peterson this poem is narrating retrospectively, from a grown person’s view, something remains the poet does not hate his father for the beating, on the contrary, he shows us the true love of the son for his father is not, and never was lost. In the poem, he talks about “but I hang on like death” in the first stanza, “and still clinging to your to your shirt” in the fourth stanza, gives the feeling that he loved and stayed with his father during his childhood (Roethke and Foundation). All these makes the boy love his life with his father because he enjoyed the good times that he danced with his father (Roethke and Foundation). The father-son relationship should be one filled with good memories as the child grows. In life, children grow up to be what you raise them to be and so taking lessons from the poem, it should be the duty of every parent to make their children have a healthy childhood. Just like the papa in the poem, people should strive to make their children happy but avoid some behavior which could negatively impact their children. Work Cited Roethke, Theodore, and Poetry Foundation. My Papa’s waltz by Theodore Roethke. Poetry Foundation, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 28 Feb. 2017. My Papa’s Waltz By 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    Slid from the kitchen shelf;    My mother’s countenance    Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist    Was battered on one knuckle;    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    Still clinging to your shirt.