My_Papa’s_Waltz

My Papa’s Waltz “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a poem overstuffed with many mixed interpretations. Some (other students) say the poem is about a man looking back on happy times. Some (other students) people even say the poem is a story about a little girl dancing with her father. Although there are many different ways to interpret “My Papa’s Waltz”, there are various lines in each stanza to indicate there is an incident of abuse. “The Whiskey on your breath / could make a small boy dizzy”(1-2), is the opening line in stanza one. This was the indicator that the speaker in the poem was a boy. In line four, stanza one; the boy refers to his situation of abuse as a “waltz”. Waltzing is a dance that is thought of to be intimate. The boy in the poem uses this word to describe what is going on to make it seem right. It is not unheard of for children whom are victims of abuse to pretend that their mistreatment is normal. “Such waltzing was not easy”(4), indicates by using the “such” that this is not the first time that this abuse has occurred. In stanza two, line one says, “We romped until the pans theodore, Roethke, boy, child, stanza, poem, time, shows, one, help, father, say, papa’s, make, father’s, abuse, about, wrong, wrist, words, whom, waltzing, waltz, victim, very, three, theodore, students, something, small, seems, roethke, right, pans, out, mother, line, going, hands, grabbing, gestures, first, every, even, done, back, anything, again, afraid, young, word