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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
Comment 56 of 59, added on April 1st, 2007 at 4:21 PM.
With ‘My Papa’s Waltz’ you are personally left to unlock to the abuse between the father and son. What seems as a fun playful poem is quickly dissolved by the underlying child neglect.
With the “The whiskey on your breath”, “hung on like death”, “the pans,
Slid from the kitchen shelf”, “hand that held my wrist, Was battered on one knuckle”, “My right ear scraped a buckle”, “beat time” lines I came to the resolved deduction that this was not all fun.
I had the impression the last line of the poem, "waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt" infers the boy’s dependency on his father. I still had the impression that the relationship was still partially based on love, but more of a reluctant, irresolute love.
This is one of my all time favorite poems. It depicts the abuse ‘behind closed doors’ it gives anyone who’s familiar with a love/hate relationship enthralled with the maltreatment as a child. It perfectly illustrates the story of a father and son, a son who powerlessly put up with his father.
Alysha Smith from Canada
Comment 55 of 59, added on March 22nd, 2007 at 5:04 AM.
In my first 'speed' read of the poem "My Papa's Waltz' I negatively percieved and interpreted this piece of poetry to have been written on the basis of child abuse. I thought to myself, now, this just can't be right so, I reread the poem the way it must be read, at a 'slower pace in feeling the literary works' -- then to interpret a positive 'blissful' time shared between father and son. The father and son had spent much time 'daily' together in the greenhouse in which reveals to me that the two had a close and bonded relationship. Also I have thoroughly researched Theodore Roethke's Life, Career, Poetry and Timeline in which there are no words that reveal any form of domestic violence and/or child abuse in Roethke's life. Plus, Theodore was extremely close to his father and terribly jarred by his father's death. In addition, I percieve a tired papa coming into the home, after a hard days work out in his greenhouse, 'with palm caked hard by dirt' hands; after dark. I think 'whiskey on his breath could make a small boy dizzy' is merely the act of papa taking a shot of whiskey to relax after work in which does not mean the father is a drunken sot. The odor of whiskey would be strong to a non drinker and a small child. Also, In male rough-housed play the father and son danced 'Papa's Waltz' around the room in papa giving his son maculine 'quality time' prior to getting him off to bed. The Mother frowned with disapproval by the rough play and noise, however, she said nothing to disturb the father and son's joyful dance; for boys will be boys. Finally, the 'beat time on my head' is basically a pat of a strong man's hand on a small boy's head -- telling his son playtime is over and it's time for bed. Futhermore, the child would not be 'clinging' to his papa's shirt if he were being abused. He would urgently be trying to 'get away' from his papa.
Poet Ambassador, Trish from United States
Comment 54 of 59, added on January 11th, 2007 at 5:27 PM.
I do not believe that the boy's father is abusive. Although he is portrayed as a drunkard, I believe that he is very loving. I also believe that the little boy enjoyed the waltx because although he is enduring bodily harm he does not say anything. The mesage in this poem is that the simple things in life can bring joy to someone. Also, it is my opinion that lines 11-12 do not speak of abuse but it is put in literary terms that the father'd drinking and his actions affected the little boy negatively.
Chadia Mathurin
Comment 53 of 59, added on December 10th, 2006 at 4:21 PM.
I would just like to add a comment to those who try to connect a poem to a poet's life. Poets usually write poetry that is not nessesarily autobiographical, so to try to read a poem that way (unless the poet said it was autobiographical) could distort your understanding of the meaning.
I do like that this poem is unclear with its meaning. It is easy to see either side of the debate about if the father was abusive. That's all I have to add for the moment. Bye!
Sarah from United States
Comment 52 of 59, added on July 24th, 2006 at 2:15 PM.
"My Papa's Waltz" is the dance of shame imposed on a young boy by his alcoholic father.
Randal from United States
Comment 51 of 59, added on July 24th, 2006 at 1:03 PM.
I love this poem because it can be taken very literally, and at the same time figuratively or symbolically. You can really picture the kid holding on to his father for dear life, being slung around the room. And if that's the only thing you got out of the poem it would be enough. Almost everyone has had the experience of being danced around by a parent, grandparent, or older sibling. It's a nice bit of nostalgia. On the opther hand, life is a dance, it's what and who you are in relation to other people. Your father (or whoever) takes a step, you make a counter move. He misses a step, you didn't predcit it and you get stepped on or "scraped." And there are people in the background watching and judging. Your life , your waltz, your relationships will certainly not be all smooth- there will be bumps and rough spots, but in the end, you wouldn't want to miss it. So the scariness and the scrapes are tolerable because the dance itself is so darn fun! I think it's about taking the good with the bad. Or maybe even showing how much we will tolerate because of love.
annie from United States
Comment 50 of 59, added on May 19th, 2006 at 8:21 AM.
this poem depicts an abusive relationship between father and son. in the first stanza the imagery uses death as a similie instead of like a teddy bear. giving the gloomy feel to the poem. another is within the title itself "MY PAPA'S WALTZ" its not our waltz with papa or waltzing with papa showing this boys resentment in remembering this "dance" with his father.
nikkie from United States
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
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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