My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

My Papa's Waltz In the poem my “ My Papa’s Waltz”, written by Theodore Roethke is sought to show a grief emotion of sorrow that the narrator is experiencing with his father. He provides hints and uses imagery and personification to conceal the truth about what is occurring in his life. Although, the poem may sound simple and easy to understand “ My Papa’s Waltz” is really a complex narrative of parental love and abuse. As, the story is being told he incorporates a song that has a beautiful melody and rhythm scheme to go along with the poem. The song called The Waltz brings both his father and himself together. He gives the illusion of them waltzing; however, it is not in a healthy manner, but a scene of violence and abuse as he states “ …show more content…
This may be because he has an unconditional love towards him and forgives him for what his father has done to him. Instead, he accepts it and moves on, until the next beating comes around. For example he says “ But I hung on like death” ( Roethke, 968), signifying that he is frightened by his own father due to alcoholism because he could possibly be aggressive; however, this does not stop him from accepting him for who he is. He also indicates “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Roethke 968) in which means that the smell plays a strong remembrance that has left a stain on him, in which will always bring back a sad but memorable memory to him about his father. He also claims “such waltzing was not easy” ( Roethke, 968), portraying that no matter how rough the abuses and arguments may be, he takes on the neglect and pain for the love of his father because he does not leave, instead he learns how to live and dance through it. Once, it is time for him to go to bed he “clings on to his father’s shirt” (Roethke, 969), meaning that he still has hope that one day the beatings will stop and his father will realize how good his son was to