My essay on Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”
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Memories
We all have memories of our childhood. Some childhood memories will be positive and others will be negative. Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” is a quatrain poem about a memory of a boy waltzing with his father. The speaker is now a grown man. The poem is written in iambic trimeter. This poem can be viewed in two ways. One way to look at this poem is that the young boy is having fun with his father waltzing. Some, on the other hand, believe this is a poem about child abuse. There are examples supports for both agreements throughout the poem. I can clearly see the positive loving side the agreement for this poem.
Other readers see this poem as an abusive father son relationship. The opening line says, “The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). The man is looking back on this memory and remembers the “whiskey” on his father’s “breath” (1). His dad drinks enough “whiskey” to be able to smell it. Also, as a reader we can infer that the boy’s father has drunk enough to “make a small boy dizzy” (2). So, the boy’s dad is drunk. The speaker says, “I hung on like death:” (3). This is a simile that compares how the boy holding on to his father and to death. Death is negative symbol. The boy is holding on for dear life. The little boy is also being hurt when his “right ear scraped a buckle” (12). The speaker explains how the boy is “mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (7-8). The mother is upset that her dunk husband is playing with their son. It is also the little boy’s bedtime. The mom wants their son to be in the bed. The speaker says “You beat time on my head” (14). When people are waltzing, they will keep the beat to be on rhythm with their partner. The speaker could have just simply said keeping time instead of beating it. The use of the word “beat” could indicate some harm. Different reader’s may have a different presumption of the poem.
Some readers see this poem the same way I do, as a loving memory of a boy and his father. The speaker says, “The hand that held my wrist/ Was battered on one knuckle” (9-10). This is a great image of the father having to hold the boys wrist. When children hands are smaller it may be easier for adults to hold them by their wrist. The speaker explains how “My mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (7-8). The mother is frowning because the papa and the boy knocks the pans off of the shelf. She could have been trying to hold in a laugh. People usually frown and bite their teeth if they are trying to hold in a laugh. It is also the little boy’s bedtime indicated by the end of the poem. The speaker says “Was battered on one knuckle” (10). The bruised knuckle could be from a number of things. The speaker does explain that papa’s “palm” is “caked hard by dirt” (14). The dirt could imply papa’s occupation. Papa’s occupation could be something to do with outdoors which would explain his bruised knuckle. The poem ends by saying, “Then waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). The boy is trying not to go to bed. If the boy was being abusived I don’t think he would still be holding on to his papa’s shirt.
Some readers see this poem the same way I do, as a loving memory of a boy and his father. The speaker says, “The hand that held my wrist/ Was battered on one knuckle” (9-10). This is a great image of the father having to hold the boys wrist. When children hands are smaller it may be easier for adults to hold them by their wrist. The speaker explains how “My mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” (7-8). The mother is frowning because the papa and the boy knocks the pans off of the shelf. She could have been trying to hold in a laugh. People usually frown and bite their teeth if they are trying to hold in a laugh. It is also the little boy’s bedtime indicated by the end of the poem. The speaker says “Was battered on one knuckle” (10). The bruised knuckle could be from a number of things. The speaker does explain that papa’s “palm” is “caked hard by dirt” (14). The dirt could imply papa’s occupation. Papa’s occupation could be something to do with outdoors which would explain his bruised knuckle. The poem ends by saying, “Then waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). The boy is trying not to go to bed. If the boy was being abusived I don’t think he would still be holding on to his papa’s shirt.
I can clearly agree this is a poem about a loving father/son relationship. The little boy is having fun waltzing around the house carefree with his father. I found the title of this story strange. The boy calls his dad or father papa. The boy refers to mom as mother. Children usually call their mom, mom or mother. This can imply a close intimate relationship between the father and his son. The boy’s father is probably of drinking age. So, it is not a crime for him to drink. Guy in general plays rough. The fact that they “romped” into the pans could have nothing to do with his father being drunk. The poem ends by saying “Then waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16). The little boy is having so much fun with his father that he doesn’t want to go to bed. If this waltzing is hurting him I think the little boy would let go. No one wants to keep getting hurt.
In conclusion, I viewed this poem as a loving father/son relationship. There are examples that each side can use to strength their agreement. I just found that the end of the poem shows very clearly that the little boy is not being abused. The little boy is still holding on to his father’s shirt and not wanting to go to bed. This is a major sign that the boy is having fun. It is a common agreement that the father has drunk some whiskey. The only indication of how much the father drinks is the little boy could smell it. This poem is all about the reader’s presumption. We all look at things differently. We tend to remember the good in life vs. the bad.
Works Cited
Roethke, Theodore. “My Papa’s Waltz.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s 2012. 754-755. Print.
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