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My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

459 Words2 Pages

While the subject of the 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 show him reminiscing on his relationship and many memories, good and bad with his father from when he was a child. Imagery is used to represent the joyful or even unsure times that Roethke and his father experienced. His father arrives home, after work not wasting time to wash his hand leaving them “a palm caked hard by dirt,” to make sure that he gets to hang out with his son before bedtime. As the boys played around making messes and maybe breaking something here and …show more content…

Roethke develops a negative, but yet faithful tone with imagery embedded in a good portion of the poem. Stanza one mentions “Whiskey on your breath … Such waltzing was not easy. Leading to people thinking that the Roethke might have been beaten as a child. “Waltzing,”is a dance that is usually graceful but hard to keep up if you do not know how to dance it properly with your partner. Explaining why he “held on like death” show that the child is fearful that he could fall or get hurt from not knowing how to, but yet still waltzes with him. Putting a picture in the reader's mind that the poet wants to still be with his father, and that he wants to trust his father. The rhythmical use of meter Roethke incorporates in “My Papa’s Waltz” also helps the reader’s imagination. Just like Roethke’s usage of rhyme within the poem, his use of rhyme skeme helps the reader visualize this relationship between the father and the son in the poem. The rhythmic pattern of Roethke’s diction allows the reader to think of a tune to accompany his poem. Throughout the piece, Roethke relies on the reader’s imagination to interpret this deeply emotional piece and be interpreted into what they think sounds best and makes most

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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Waltz By Roethke

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Further, Roethke uses word diction to set the overall tone for this poem. The word “waltz” which is used frequently throughout the text means “to dance in triple time performed by a couple who as a pair turn rhythmically around and around as they progress around the dance floor.” If Roethke was undergoing abuse, the author would choose unfavorable words to describe encounters with his father. Instead, Roethke uses heartening words to get his message across; which is that he will cherish the memorable times he shared with his father. Another word easily misinterpreted is “romped” used in line five, which gives readers a negative connotation; but in truth means “ to play roughly and energetically”

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The use of meter in Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” symbolizes the relationship between the speaker and their father. This poem is predominately in iambic trimeter. This meter follows the flow of the waltz, a dance that is in 3/4th. The iambic pattern is inconsistent throughout the poem and these slight changes in meter relate to the father’s waltz itself. The waltz “could make a small boy dizzy”, emphasizing the clumsiness of the father’s dance by having an amphibrach foot follow after an iambic foot (Roethke 2).

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In discussions of “My Papa’s Waltz,” one controversial issue has been that several people believe it’s an abuse issue. On the other hand, some readers argue it is not abuse although, a loving dance between a father and son. While the subject of “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 show a beating of a son by his father that is told in a beautiful dance. Roethke uses imagery, syntax and diction which brings his poem together to reveal a profound meaning.

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My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

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“The whiskey on your breath/Could make a small boy dizzy,” (lines 1 and 2) portrays the father as having drunk a large amount of alcohol, enough to make his son feel dizzy at the scent of his breath. Alcohol is known to cause abuse issues, proving to be one probable cause of the abuse within the father and son’s relationship. “[h]alf of all domestic abuse involve drinking. The relationship between alcohol and child abuse, specifically, is particularly close, with alcohol abuse being a contributing factor to child abuse and child abuse being a contributing factor to adult alcoholism” (Alcohol Rehab Guide). Roethke’s words, “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle,” (lines 9-10) portrays the father’s hand as worn.

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