Comment 20 of 60, added on August 7th, 2005 at 1:40 AM.

This poem is NOT about abuse or alcoholism. Keep in mind that this poem was written in the year 1948. Looking back to the movies of the 40s and 50s as well as the sitcoms from the 50s such as "I Love Lucy" you will see a pattern of alcohol consumption being associated with comedy - not abuse. I think that the first line of this poem being read in modern times causes the tone of the poem to be taken out of context (especially in America) because our generation has been taught that drug and alcohol use only leads to misery. However, that was not the message of this poet who died in 1963.

Roethke's father owned a greenhouse. Although he was a stern man, Roethke and his father are reported to have had a good relationship. Roethke's father died when he was only 14 years old, and I think that this poem was written based upon a childhood memory of his father returning home from working in the greenhouse, after he had relaxed and had a drink or two which relaxed him. The fact that the father's hand was "battered on one knuckle" indicates that he was a hard working man, and "with a palm caked hard by dirt" reflects his father's work with the plants in the greenhouse.

There have been analyses of the rough drafts of Roethke's poem which show that the poet deliberately chose ambiguous words so that the feelings they would instill in the reader would not be precise. Unfortunately, this seems to make modern day readers believe there is abuse occurring in this poem. However, there is no evidence that the father is purposely mistreating the son, there is only evidence of rough play - but happy rough play. The father dances sloppily and misses some steps which inadvertently causes a belt buckle to scrape the child's ear, but the father didn't intentionally hurt him. The ambiguity that I believe this poet was striving for was to show that this enjoyable interaction between father and son ranges from delight to a small amount of fear - the type of fear that we may feel on a fast rollercoaster ride (the good kind that provides a little adrenalin rush).

When the father "beat time" on the boy's head Roethke deliberately chooses the word "beat" over the words "kept time" (per his rough drafts) most likely to increase the intensity of the interaction, but should not be mistaken to mean that the boy was beaten by his father or was hurt in any way.

What about the mother? Would a mother merely maintain a frown if the father was abusing the son? Wouldn't there be tears in her eyes, a cry of protest, something besides a description indicating that her face "could not unfrown itself?" Mom merely wishes that the rough play would end because they are knocking over pans and it is the child's bedtime. What mother doesn't tell a father to stop winding the children up just before bedtime?

The son enjoys the father's rough play. So much so that when it comes to an end and the father waltzes him off to bed, the son clings to the father's shirt because he does not want the good time to end.

My advice is that the reader should minimize the effect that the whiskey in the first line has on their perceptions of this poem. Not every man who has a glass of whiskey should be labeled a drunk, an alcoholic, or abusive. The scent of alcohol on someone's breath doesn't even mean that they are drunk or under the influence of alcohol, it only means that they had a drink. There's no crime in that, is there?

Susan

Comment 18 of 60, added on June 17th, 2005 at 2:32 PM.

“ My Papa’s Waltz” about ( I believe) abusive father. The tone of the poem is pretty strained. On the face of it, it seems that author talks about him and his father having a romp, as a game:he put this “ My mother’s countenance Could not unfrown itself.” But later is “ You beat time on my head…” It’s definitely about regular beating. “ With a palm caked hard by dirt”. I saw an anger in that poem that remained in this author. The poem ends with unfinished battle “Then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt.” ”. I was wondered, why author died being pretty young. So, I found that Theodore Roethke was a heavy drinker and died of a heard attack. It tells me he kept his anger for father for years. He calls it My Papa's waltz- it sound to me as a sarcastic title.

Lana from Ukraine

Comment 16 of 60, added on May 22nd, 2005 at 1:46 PM.

In my humble opinion (and in the opinion of my 10th grade English teacher way back when) this poem is a memory about a small boy whose father worked long hours, came back drunken, and "danced" his son to bed at night. Needless to say, the father was/is an alcoholic.

Douglas Forrester from United States

Comment 14 of 60, added on May 16th, 2005 at 4:26 PM.

One can most certainly interpret a poem wrong. I, for one, believe the poem is about Theodore Roethke's first ride in an airplane. And really, if all of us are here to pointedly pronounce our own opinions without trying to convince anyone of anything and instigating nothing but an argument, what is the point of posting?

Guy from Czech Republic

Comment 12 of 60, added on May 5th, 2005 at 1:05 AM.

I believe that in this poem the narrator is remembering an abusive cildhood, although Roethke never directly states this.
The very tight structured format in which the peom was written - 4 stanza's; iambic pentameter - leads me to beleive that the auther still has not yet fully delt with the emotions associated with an abusive father, and so he tries to conceal them from himself via the tight structure of the poem, and perhaps from the reader as well.
He does give you clues to the fact that abuse did occur however. For example, when the narrator says that the hand that held his wrist was battered on one knuckle, i immediately thought of the fact that when you punch someone, your knuckles do often bruise.
His mother's countenance could not unfrown itself because no mother happily watches her son being abused, and maybe she thought that she was next.
When he says that his father beat time on his head, i took this line to mean that his father constantly abused him day in and day out. The last two lines of the poem to me perfectly reflects the mindset of a child being abused by a parent- regardless of the pain, you still love that parent and will continue to be dependent on that parent, eventually you may even begin to believe that you were deserving of the abuse.

Jackie Dean from United States