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Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

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It is clear from the beginning of “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke that the author intended for the poem to give a negative connotation to the reader. The poem not only involved a seemingly alcoholic father, but also a small boy whose experience was shaped by his father’s actions. The scene depicted is negative because of the way he is swung, hit on the head, and scraped by a belt buckle. The father, unaware of how rough he handles his son, swings his child around like he is on a merry-go-round. This is shown in the quote “But I hung on like death,” (line 3). The word “death” implies that the boy is not enjoying his time dancing, which contributes to the notion that this experience with his father is negative. This quote shows the difficulty the boy has when hanging on to his …show more content…

In the quote “You beat time on my head / With a palm caked hard by dirt,” (13-14), it is shown that the boy must endure getting hit on the head in order to continue the dance with his father. The imagery provided within these lines can also support the idea that the father is an alcoholic or abusive. Immediately after being hit on the head, the boy and his father dance off to bed as if nothing has happened; which leads to the suggestion that this “dance” is fairly common. Overall, the moments captured in “My Papa’s Waltz” have a negative effect on the boy because of the way he is struck on the head, swung around the room, and grazed by a belt buckle. Despite the negative aspects of the dance, one can conclude that the boy and the father seem to have a difficult, yet somewhat loving relationship. At the end of the poem, the boy persistently clings onto the father’s shirt. The boy must love his father, because of the efforts he contributes in order to continue the waltz. However, the relationship between the boy and the father is toxic because of the mistreatment of the

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The reason that this has negative effect on the boy is because he does not even realize that his father is not treating him right. Roethke writes, “Still clinging to your shirt” (16). This line shows that the young boy still stayed near his father even though the father was being abusive to him. This just goes to show that the persona of the poem thought that this sort of behavior was normal from a parent. “My Papa’s Waltz” highlights the ways a young person sees a parent who is stern and somewhat abusive.

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The rhyme scheme mimics the “musical beat in a waltz composition” using an iambic trimeter line (three beats). In other words, when the author writes “You beat time on my head,” he means the father kept time, or the beat of the waltz, by patting the head of his son. As noted earlier, the diction of the author causes one to image an abused child, with words such as “romped” and “beat.” Additionally, Roethke writes “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle;” and “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt,” suggests the father’s hands are damaged because of maltreating his child. However, we know the poet’s father owns and works at a greenhouse, which is why his hands would be “caked hard by dirt,” and explain why he has “battered [knuckles].”

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