My Papa's Waltz - A poem by Theodore Roethke

Theodore Roethke - My Papa's Waltz

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.

Added: on January 22nd, 2009 at 5:31 PM | Viewed: 38330 times | Comments (59)

My Papa's Waltz - Comments and Information
Poet: Theodore Roethke Poem: My Papa's Waltz Poem of the Day on: Nov 1 2004 Comment 59 of 59, added on May 17th, 2009 at 9:36 PM. I am actually doing an essay on poem and choice Papa's Waltz for the imagery of it. I dont see at all abuse child or etc... I see a hard working couple in hard time at the begining of lot thing in the New world. This hard man with hurting hand ``battered on one knuckle'' try to be sweet and share his time with is soon and share some education in same time. Dance, folk music such as waltz is a cultural heritage that my parents such as europeen parents teached me, so why not this man. I saw a cabane, with hard worker couple and a kids enjoy doing something easy for adult even with a couple of whiskey glass. This kids is not yet tall enough to be able to do the move without be hurt (gently) by a simple buckle that is on the way. I don,t see any meaning of child abuse. If I hurt my feet when I hurt the table feet should I call that a child abuse because my parents by a table and put it on my way? We should think about the context and not the paranioac TV. patricia from Canada Comment 58 of 59, added on February 20th, 2009 at 7:41 PM. i believe you are all wrong, the poem was about a father who enjoyed a little drink, came home and attempted to engage in a little play time with his young son. one must remember that the poem was written in 1948. at that time a working class man having a drink after work was nothing out of the ordinary. incidentally the bruised and battered knuckle and palm caked hard with dirt suggest that the father is a hard working man. as to that comment about sexual violation...WTF!??! thats insane...and then going so far as to say "if you dig a little deeper" as if its the truth..again WTF... and no that does not stand for world taekwondo federation(at least not in this context) ....anyway in my opinion the waltz was a harmless evening time romp that the father shared with his son, the only time he could see him in the short hours between the time he was home and his son's bedtime.... .......sexual violation...wtf kinda sicko sees that in this kind of poem? i mean physical abuse is one thing, but good lord. how could anyone see ass perforation in such an innocent poem?! Jan Schlitzer from United States Comment 57 of 59, added on January 22nd, 2009 at 5:31 PM. Look, I believe everyone has the right to their own interpretations, but sometimes wrong is just wrong. This is NOT a poem about abuse. First, whiskey on the breath does NOT equal being a "drunk." Second, the FATHER is the one with the bruises and scars, NOT the child. His knuckle is scraped, and his hands are caked with dirt because he's been working. If he'd been habitually beating the child, wouldn't more than one knuckle be scraped? He's had a drink (or several) so he's not too coordinated and stumbles. Picture your drunk relative at a wedding reception and you'll have the perfect visual. Appropriate? Maybe not. Abusive? Of course not. To continue: the kid's ear scrapes the buckle because he's SHORT. The dad's playing a little rough because ... well, he's a DAD. We hear "beat time" and don't connect it to the dance and the idea of tapping out a rhythm (which, by the way, is reflected in the meter). We immediately go to abuse. How sad... and what a sad comment on society when we immediately think the worst in a situation. And, by the way, the mom is frowning because they're messing up the kitchen (can't believe no on got that). And the sexual abuse... if you get sexual abuse from from "waltzed me off to bed"... you're sick. Would you get the same connotation from "flew me to bed like Superman"? How about "flung me onto the bed like a sack of potatoes"? I think a few people got a limited lesson in diction from their English teachers and took it a little to far. Isolated words and phrases do not make meaning -- they enhance it. Sometimes, when you are trying to find a deep or hidden meaning in a poem, it's better to miss the boat than to jump wildly after it and drown. English Teacher from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, My Papa's Waltz, has received 59 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Theodore Roethke with others on the Poetry Connection poetry forum!

Poem Info
My Papa's Waltz Last read: 2009-11-20 23:34:28 Poem of the Day on: Nov 1 2004 Viewed 38330 times. Added on January 22nd, 2009 at 5:31 PM.

Roethke Info
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