Such Waltzing Was Not Easy The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke portrays a father/son relationship between the narrator and his father who died of cancer when Roethke was in high school. Most readers would presume that the little boy admired his father, despite his faulty qualities, alcohol being the most prominent one, and wrote this as a tribute to him. The first stanza provides the readers with an image of the boy being content while waltzing with his father, no matter the circumstances:
The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. The first stanza shows us that the little boy craves his father’s attention, and enjoys the time he has with him. However, as …show more content…
“We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf;” By this quote, the readers can almost see the image of the boy and his papa jumping and dancing throughout the house with such rage that they were shaking the house. The last lines of the second stanza introduce the mother of the boy. Lines 7-8 read “My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself.” Notice that the narrator refers to her as “My mother,” as in comparison to “Papa,” demonstrating the difference of the relationships between the boy and his parents. You can also gather that the mother may disapprove of the father having any influence over the small boy, considering his drinking problem. Nonetheless, the boy and father do not stop waltzing, failing to care if they knock the pans off the …show more content…
By using this technique, Roethke provides the readers with a feel of the movement of the dance. However, like the narrator says, there are some missteps in the dance. Whether it is because the father has had a few drinks or he is just clumsy, the little boy does not seem to care as long as he is with his papa. Notice that the father is holding onto the boy’s wrist rather than a normal waltz where the partners hold hands. This detail demonstrates that the father and son are not as close. The next line, “Was battered on one knuckle;” gives the readers with one explanation as to why the boy and father do not have a close relationship. The father most likely works so much that when he comes home he does not get that much time with his son and his battered knuckles suggest that his job is some form of manual labor. The last lines in the third stanza say that when the father would miss a step, the boy’s ear scraped his father’s belt buckle. Despite the pain, it does not refrain the narrator from continuing the