Analysis of Theodore Roethke "My Papa's Waltz"

The first stanza of Roethke's poem suggests that the narrator is a little boy and his father may be an alcoholic. The little boy can sense the whisky on his father's breath and as the father waltzes with him the little boy says, "But I hung on like death," which implies that his father may be a comfort to him even though he has alcohol on his breath. This poem also has a way of suggesting that the father may be abusing the boy with lines such as, "At every step you missed; My right ear scraped a buckle," as if his father may be abusing him in some way. The narrator also uses words like "romp" to show how he and his father waltz which is not graceful at all and instead puts an aggressive image into the readers head. The narrator also says, "You beat time on my head," which is another aggressive image that could be taken more literally as the father beats his head. Since the narrator is a little boy he might not understand his fathers violent actions which is why it is called a "waltz," something that should be beautiful and elegant. Using the word "waltz" could also mean that the father frequently abuses the little boy and that their interactions have become so automatic and natural that it turns into a type of dance they do with each other. The last two lines "Then you waltzed me off to bed; Still clinging to your shirt," implies that even though the father is abusive the narrator still loves him and wants to be around him because he is his father.