Blog Ten An Abusive Father

The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke can be interpreted in two different ways. It can be expressed as a somber poem about the love a young boy has for his father, despite the fact that the father is abusive and an alcoholic. A second interpretation of the poem is more direct. It can also be interpreted as a poem about a young boy, who is remembering a night with his father, in which his father danced around the house aggressively. But I believe that the poem is more about my first interpretation, than my second interpretation.

The story can be interpreted about a young boy who is retelling the abuse he lived through with his alcoholic father, yet at the same time he still has a lot of love his him. In the first line of the poem the son tells hid dad, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Lines 1-2”). He is telling his father that his drinking is beginning to worry him. In the next line the boy says, “But I held on like death: Such waltzing was not easy” (Lines 2-4). The boy is telling his father that he has struggled mentally and physically to survive his abuse.

In the following stanza the boy suggests that his father may have attempted to beat him with a belt.

“The hand that held my wrist

Was battered on one knuckle;

At every step you missed

My right ears cared a buckle” (Lines 9-12)

In this stanza the boy refers to a time when his father was drunk and was going to hit him with a belt on his backside, but missed completely, and instead, hit his ear.

In the last stanza the boy expresses the confusion of emotions that he feels for his father.

“You bear time on my head

With a palm caked hard by dirt,

Then waltzed me off to bed

Still clinging to your shirt” (Lines 12-16)

In the first half of the stanza the boy continues to speak about the abuse he endured by his father, but in the second half of the stanza ends with the boy confessing the love that he has for his father. The young boy loves his father, regardless of his faults.

Overall, I was deeply by affected this poem. It brought up a topic that is very thought provoking. It is by far, my favorite poem that we have been assigned this semester.