The poem My Papas Waltz by Theodore Roethke is a two tone piece full of ambiguity. When readers approach this work they will arrive at one of two possible conclusionsthat this is an adults reflection of a memorable and joyous moment with his father or an unsettling description of child abuse, using waltzing as a metaphor.
On the lighter side, the first conclusion is of a sweet memory, which has evidence throughout the poem. The title My Papas Waltz gives a lighter tone to the piece. The word Papa is a warm and affectionate word for father. Also, waltz is considered a more elegant form of dancing, which is giving the poem a softer appeal. The adult remembers that his Papa had smelt of whiskey while trying to teach him how to dance. When waltzing, the individual recalls that they [] romped until the pans/Slid from the kitchen shelf (lines 5-6). The term romped is a light-hearted way of describing the waltzing.
When one envisions the word romp, as used in this poem, they see a father and son having a fun time, bouncing around the kitchen table. The mother frowns only because she sees her kitchen in shambles from the clumsy waltzing. The child is subjected to a rougher form of waltzing than what would be expected on the ballroom floor, but the memory could simply be when silly Papa tried to teach me to waltz when he was inebriated. The child is then waltzed off to bed by his Papa after a difficult and playful dancing lesson.
On the dark side, each piece of evidence that supports the first conclusion is refuted in various other lines. The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy (lines 1-2) depicts a drunken father whose breath is causing his small boy to become dizzy. The child hangs on like death, (line 3) casts a shadow over the piece. The reader sees the child resembling death rather than life, possibly because he is being beaten to death. The fact that they romped so hard that pans were falling suggests an aggressive act is taking place. The mother is watching the event with a frown on her face; one would assume if this was a joyous moment the mother would not be disapproving. The father is holding the child by the wrist instead of by the hand like common waltzing would be done. This suggests the child is being restrained rather than partaking in a mutual activity.
The child also states, The hand that held [his] wrist/ Was battered on one knuckle (lines 9-10), this is an interesting adjective to describe his Papas knuckle. The individual could have chosen a less negative adjective to describe the knuckle (e.g. hurt, sore, etc.). The individual also recalls his right ear being scraped [by] a buckle (line12). His Papa does not keep the time on his sons head, but beat[s] time on [his] head (line 13). When the child is taken off to bed he is clinging to his Papas shirt, which is a more desperate act instead of an affectionate one. The shadowing words: death, could not unfrown, held my wrist, battered, scraped, beat, and clinging are not words commonly used to describe a pleasant dancing experience.
The ambiguity of the words and the ability to uncover a negative and a positive tone from the short poem allows the reader to derive their own personal message from the piece. The poem shows how easily one piece of work can be interpreted in more than one way, making this poem an excellent analytical study. Depending on which words the reader emphasizes, the negative or the positive, there is no telling how one reader will feel when walking away from this little poem with not so little meaning.
