My Papa's Waltz

My Papa's Waltz

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke, the tone the speaker is speaking about is his memories of his childhood with his father, which is a joyful one. I asked myself is there a hidden message because of the whiskey on his breath or the scraped knuckles. But I could not find abuse in this poem. The symbolism of the "whiskey on your breath could make you dizzy" could suggest a bad memory. However, the word dizzy in itself is a playful word on affection. In line 5, "We romped until the pans" would have been worded as crashed into the pans. The symbolism of romped is another word for frolic, which is a happy experience.

A reader may think this poem is about abuse when reading, line 3, "hung on like death", and line 13, "beat time on my head". However, his father's coming home drunk and wanting to dance and have fun with his son is a happy occasion. When he is "waltzed" to bed does not imply he is sent to his room for bad behavior. It is simply the end of the dance. When the boy "hung on like death" and in line 16, "still clinging to your shirt" is a metaphor that the boy did not want to go bed and end this playful moment.

options for journal:I realized I did not reference two elements in the forum discussion so I have added tone and metaphor to the poem above. After reading everyone's discussion I still hold on to the fact that this poem is not about abuse.