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Comment 16 of 56, 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 15 of 56, added on May 16th, 2005 at 5:57 PM.
I feel that this poem represents a young man trying to find a way to express his desolation after the loss of his father. To me it is a recolation of a happy moment in Roethke's childhood where hhe stood on his father's feet as his father waltzed around the room. I used to do the same thing with my own father. It doesnt seem to me that there was any abuse (at the time) but his "pain" was that of losing his father.
Emily from United States
Comment 14 of 56, 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 13 of 56, added on May 10th, 2005 at 7:58 PM.
I am jut going to say that this poem was written in a different time period from ours. There are certain things that seem unthinkable now that weren't uncommon then. Also, his father was a gadener who owned a green house. When was the last time you heard of a gardener hurting somebody who did not deserve it?
Bryce Fisher from United States
Comment 12 of 56, 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
Comment 11 of 56, added on May 3rd, 2005 at 7:05 PM.
I agree. You can not decide whetehr an interpretation is wrong.
Max from United States
Comment 10 of 56, added on May 1st, 2005 at 10:24 PM.
There is certainly nothing "wrong" with different interpretations. Personally, I don't make the abuse correlation, and certainly see no evidence of sexual abuse. Evident from the word choice in the line "At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle," I see it as a playful bedtime ritual. The syntax here should help channel our feeling of the poem and what we think about the "waltz". Had he written "a buckle scrape my right ear" there would be a genuine concern for the child. I don't know if you ever "waltzed" on your father's feet, or had your children on your feel, but children often cling on for dear life. You know, as if the floor is quicksand, alligators etc. "Such waltzing was not easy" for the child to hold on, nor for the father to walk with the child on his feet. And as far as the line "You beat time on my head," I see it as just holding just a musical connotation.
Bryan from United States
Comment 9 of 56, added on April 27th, 2005 at 12:03 AM.
Sorry sarah how can you say i am wrong at the way i inturpret a poem there is NO WRONG WAY TO INTURPRET A POEM and unless you know the guy then you have no clue what he was thinking about when he wrote it poetry can have several different meanings so please back off and don't tell me i am wrong at inturpeting a poem
Jonny from United States
Comment 8 of 56, added on April 26th, 2005 at 11:16 PM.
Sorry Jonny, you are wrong. If you dig even deeper you will find that it truly is a horrific poem. The father obviously beats his son, and even sexually violates him. However the son is strangely moved by his father. He is aroused by his father and even enjoys his sexual exploration.
sarah farhda from United States
Comment 7 of 56, added on April 25th, 2005 at 11:52 PM.
at first when i read this poem my thoughts were the same as just about everybody elses but then i dug deeper i see a boy that loves his father and a father that loves his boy very much the father and son are playing together and the mother is getting mad at the noise it is making and when it says you beet time on my head with palms caked with dirt i see that the father is drumming on his sons head like i do on a desk not to hurt but to play and with the palms caked with dirt i see that his father is very hard working but still finds time for his son
Jonny from United States
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
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Copyright © 2003-2008 Gunnar Bengtsson, Poetry Connection. All Rights Reserved.
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