Word Choice, Tone, and Point of View in Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” Some readers may find Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” a reminiscence of a happy childhood scene. I believe, however, that the poem depicts a more painful and complicated series of emotions. By examining the choice of words that Roethke uses to convey the tone of his scene, I will demonstrate that beneath the seemingly comic situation of the poem is a darker story. The true point of view of “My Papa’s Waltz” is that of a resentful adult reliving his fear of a domineering parent. The first clue that the dance may not have been a mutually enjoyable experience is in the title itself. The author did not title the poem “Our Waltz” or “Waltzing with My Papa,” either of which would set an initial tone for readers to expect a shared, loving sentiment. It does not even have a neutral title, such as “The Waltz.” The title specifically implies that the waltz was exclusively the father’s. Since the waltz normally involves two people, it can be reasoned that the father dances his waltz without regard for his young partner. Examining each stanza of the poem offers numerous examples where the choice of words sustains the tone implied in the title. The first line, “The whiskey on your breath,” conjures up an olfactory image that most would find unpleasant. The small boy finds it so overpowering he is made “dizzy.” This stanza contains the only simile in the poem, “I hung on like death” (3), which creates a ghastly and stark visual image. There are innumerable choices of similes to portray hanging on: a vine, an infant, an animal cub, all of which would have illustrated a lighthearted romp. The choice of “death” was purposefully used to convey an intended image. The first stanza ends by stating that the “waltzing was not easy.” The definitions of easy, as found in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, include “free from pain, annoyance, or anxiety,” and “not difficult to endure or undergo.” (“Easy”). Obviously the speaker did not find those qualities in the waltz. Further evidence of this harsh and oppressive scene is brought to mind by reckless disregard for “the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf” (5-6), which the reader can almost hear crashing to the floor in loud cacophony, and the “mother’s countenance,” which “[c]ould not unfrown itself” (8). If this was only a silly, playful romp between father and son, even a stern, fastidious mother might be expected to at least make an unsuccessful attempt to suppress a grin. Instead, the reader gets a visual image of a silent, unhappy woman, afraid probably due to past experience, to interfere in the domestic destruction around her. Once more, this detail suggests a domineering father who controls the family. The third stanza relates the father’s “battered” hand holding the boy’s wrist. The tactile image of holding a wrist suggests dragging or forcing an unwilling person, not holding hands as would be expected with a mutual dance partner. Further disregard for the son’s feelings is displayed by the lines “At every step you missed / My right ear scraped a buckle” (11-12). In each missed step, probably due to his drunkenness, the father causes the boy physical pain. The tone continues in the final stanza as the speaker recalls “You beat time on my head / With a palm caked hard by dirt” (13-14). The visual and tactile image of a dirt-hardened hand beating on a child’s head as if it were a drum is distinctly unpleasant. The last lines “Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt” (15-16) are the most ambiguous in the poem. It can be reasoned, as X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia do, that the lines suggest “the boy is ‘still clinging’ to his father with persistent if also complicated love” (718). On the other hand, if one notices the earlier dark images, the conclusion could describe a boy clinging out of fear, the physical fear of being dropped by one who is drunk and the emotional fear of not being loved and nurtured as a child needs to be by his father. It can also be argued that the poem’s rollicking rhythm contributes to a sense of fun, and in truth, the poem can be read in that fashion. On the other hand, it can be read in such a way as to deemphasize the rhythm, as the author himself does in his recording of “My Papa’s Waltz” (Roethke, Reads). The joyful, rollicking rhythm can be seen as ironic. By reminding readers of a waltzing tempo, it is highlighting the discrepancy of what a waltz should be and the bleak, frightening picture painted in the words. While “My Papa’s Waltz” can be read as a roughhouse comedy, by examining Roethke’s title and choice of words closely to interpret the meaning of their images and sounds, it is also plausible to hear an entirely different tone. I believe “My Papa’s Waltz” employs the voice of an embittered adult remembering a harsh scene in which both he and his mother are powerless in the presence of a drunk and domineering father. Works Cited “Easy.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. 2003. Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 9th ed. New York: Longman, 2005. 718. Roethke, Theodore. “My Papa’s Walz.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 9th ed. Longman, 2005. 718. ---. Theodore Roethke Reads His Poetry. Audiocassette. Caedmon, 1972. My Papa's Waltz The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.