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Comment 50 of 60, 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
Comment 49 of 60, added on April 27th, 2006 at 11:11 PM.
I like htis peom becase it is very very goode. my english isnote vrey goode becase i also comew form Azerbaijan. wat is tis peom abort? sum one told me it was too doo with the great wars 1 and 2. i cant thnk why it is too do with great battles 1 and 2 but it is abort the people. Is is about the mening off lifes and a dad and son relasonship? could sumbodye email me and tell me me!
dad anf \the son.
Kahlid from Azerbaijan
Comment 48 of 60, added on April 23rd, 2006 at 6:23 AM.
How typical that those searching for 'meaning' in the poem would decide it's about abuse. Of course! All poetry MUST be autobiographical and MUST be about some emotional anguish in the poet's past! And the poem represents the poet's striving for "closure"!!
I'm particularly amused by Maxine's comment: "It's common knowledge that an abused child will often draw pictures of men with huge hands." Er, no, this is most certainly NOT common knowledge - but I will be certain from now on to look out for it among my own students' etchings, and will confront parents accordingly.
James Morgan from United Kingdom
Comment 47 of 60, added on April 22nd, 2006 at 7:46 AM.
I think it has nothing to do with a abusive or loving relationship between father and son, but rather an adult Roethke struggling with the trauma he experiance when his father died. He wants to surpass the his predecessor and earn the acceptance that was never formed. The "waltz" is symbolic of his conflicting emotions over his father's memory and inability of let go.
Kristen from United States
Comment 46 of 60, added on April 19th, 2006 at 9:24 PM.
in my opinion the view point of this child makes it easy to belive that this child could be a girl. It makes much more sense to believe that a girl would waltz around with her dad. When i first read it i thought it was about abuse but if you re-read it you can see how it would be more of a playful
Andrew Hall from United States
Comment 45 of 60, added on April 13th, 2006 at 7:34 PM.
I too first thought of this poem as a little boy being so happy to see his father and have a little play time before he went to bed. My first thought was not abuse, and I was surprised so many people saw it that way.
Traci from United States
Comment 44 of 60, added on April 11th, 2006 at 11:23 AM.
I have heard comments from the author from professors that he was very upset that anyone would get the picture of abuse out to the poem. I know at frist that that is what I saw because that is what I was taught that it was about abuse. Then in another class we discussed it and the prof argued that it was about rouh housing after a hard days work and yes were the father was a little drunk, it was probably just him hanging out with his buddies before coming home. THe mother in the background that is mentioned is more then likely upset becuase she was trying to put her son to bed when the dad comes in late and starts to get him hipper again. Plus she now has to clean up her kitchen because they are knocking thins down. The dad watlzing the son of to his bed and the kid hanging on to his shirt is because he does not want to go to bed he wants to stay up adn hangout with his dad who he hasn't seen all day because he's been at work.
It's nice to hear people's opinions on the poem, it's just sad that some people go straight to abuse before they go to the love a son for his father and visa versa
Sarah from United States
Comment 43 of 60, added on April 7th, 2006 at 9:18 AM.
I think that people are analyzing this poem too much. I don't think that it is about an abusive father rather a playful and loving father. I really love the third stanza, 'The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle.' This gave me the impression that the father was a hard worker. Some sort of laborer, maybe he worked on the dock's or building bridges (I get the feeling that this poem takes place in the great depressin.) This poem is being said through the eyes of a young boy; a small boy, maybe even a boy who is about as tall as his father's belt buckle! His father is not intentionally beating him or abusing him. The father is indeed somewhat drunk, we can understand that from the first line, therefore he is going to be a little sloppy. The father and son are just having a good time, dancing and laughing. The little boy notices that his fathers knuckles are battered. And every time his father would 'miss a step', lose count of his waltz, the boy's ear would scrape up against his belt buckle. I don't see this poem as abuse at all.
Maria from United States
Comment 42 of 60, added on March 20th, 2006 at 5:52 PM.
I think this is a reall good poem and frankly i don't really like poetry. I am doing a poetry analysis of this for school and this is kinda wut i came up with. I think the waltz is a symbol for his life, and where it says "at every step he missed....." i think that when the father does something not so good that the little boy(or girl) pays for it. It's word choice plays a big role in this poem, he uses romp as a more playful term but then the imagery is ruff ie. "hand caked with dirt" and "beat time on my head", this suggest that the father is abusive and the lines "my mothers frown".... shows rthat she diaproves but can't do anything about it. At the end we see that th boy truly loves his father by clinging on his shirt.
Jen from Canada
Comment 41 of 60, added on March 18th, 2006 at 8:44 PM.
I believe this poem is intersting. I was wondering if someone can help me relate this poem to Roethke's real life experiences? I'm doing it for my english project. If you can relate other poems of Roethke's to his life that would be great. Just let me know. Thanks!
Isabel from United States
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
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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