My PaPa’s Waltz
(1942)
Theodore Roethke
Biography

Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 25, 1908 and died on August
1, 1963 due to a heart failure at the age of 60.

Roethke’s works is characterized by deep meanings, rhythm and natural
imagery. In 1954 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for his book,
The Waking. He also won the anual National Book Award for Poetry twice
during 1959 for Words for the Wind and The Far Field in 1965.

His first book, Open House (1941), showed the strong influence of Robert
Frost.

Roethke’s childhood was mostly spent in a greenhouse owned by his father
and uncle which was reflected in his poetry in the form of natural images.

Roethke’s adolescent years were jarred by his uncle’s suicide and the death of
his father from cancer during 1923 when he was only 14. Their deaths was
what shaped Roethke’s psyche and creative life.

Throughout his lifetime Roethke also taught at several colleges and
universities such as Harvard, Lafayette, and Bennington.

During the last years of his life, Roethke wrote 61 new poems which were
published in The Far Field.
Historical/Social Background

My Papa’s Waltz was written in 1942. Most
of his poems refer back to his childhood.
This poem is about his relationship with his
father. He loves him, but also fears him at the
same time. When his father died of cancer
when he was 15, he went into depression
and mental illness. People liked his poem
because it expressed a love-hate relationship
between father and son and conflicts as well.
Readers think the poem is about child abuse
but some think it is just about a father
dancing with his son.
My Papa’s Waltz
By: Theodore Roethke
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.
Analysis of My Papa’s Waltz
My Papa’s Waltz has a simple ABAB
rhyme.
 “The whiskey on your breath (A)
Could make a small boy dizzy; (B)
But I hung on like death: (A)
Such waltzing was not easy. (B)”

Explanation of My Papa’s Waltz

On lines 1 and 2 there's no outright violence but these lines establish that Papa is
drunk, a situation that can lead to violence.

One line 3 the speaker has slipped in the ultimate end to violence (or anything, really)
– death. This line is an example of a simile, because the boy hung on "like" death. He's
holding on to his father so hard that he's as inescapable as death. In what could be a
happy poem about this father and son's relationship, we see death creep in to frighten
us right from the start.

On lines 9 and 10 The father holds the son's hand to lead him in the dance but,
because his knuckle is battered, this posture seems, if not violent, at least rough.
"Battered" is an intense word to use for a knuckle, and implies some lurking violence.

On lines 11 and 12 the father doesn't seem like he's being violent intentionally here,
but he's accidentally hurting his kid. Maybe the kid is too scared to speak up and say
"ow" when his ear scrapes his dad's belt buckle. The belt also reminds us of how belts
have often been used to punish children.

On line 13 the use of the word "beat" must be telling us something here, because you
can "keep" time just as well as you can beat it, but "beat" carries a more violent
connotation. "Beat" fits with the word "battered," which was used to describe the
father's knuckles. Throughout this poem, subtle word choices create an undercurrent
of violence.
Significance of My Papa’s Waltz



This poem drew me in with its name. It sounded like it
would be about a sweet memory of a father and child,
but it can be noted that there are lingers of violence.
What makes it even more interesting is that it can be
interpret in more than one way; some say that it is
indeed about a sweet memory of a son and father
roughhousing, others say it is about child abuse.
This shows the importance of understanding poetry. It
can be interpreted in more than one way and each way
can be vastly different from each other. But in the end
neither way is right or wrong.
Elegy For Jane
By: Theodore Roethke
I remember the neckcurls, limp and damp as tendrils;
And her quick look, a sidelong pickerel smile;
And how, once started into talk, the light syllables leaped for her.
And she balanced in the delight of her thought,
A wren, happy, tail into the wind,
Her song trembling the twigs and small branches.
The shade sang with her;
The leaves, their whispers turned to kissing,
And the mould sang in the bleached valleys under the rose.
Oh, when she was sad, she cast herself down into such a pure depth,
Even a father could not find her:
Scraping her cheek against straw,
Stirring the clearest water.
My sparrow, you are not here,
Waiting like a fern, making a spiney shadow.
The sides of wet stones cannot console me,
Nor the moss, wound with the last light.
If only I could nudge you from this sleep,
My maimed darling, my skittery pigeon.
Over this damp grave I speak the words of my love:
I, with no rights in this matter,
Neither father nor lover.
Analysis of My Elegy For Jane





In My Elegy For Jane form and meter is
used. Here are some examples:
And how, once start-led in-to talk, the light syll-a-bles leaped for her
Nor the moss, wound with the last light.
Over this damp grave I speak the words of my love
The words in bold are stressed while the words
not in bold are not emphasized.
Comparison of My Elegy For Jane
and My Papa’s Waltz
Both poems have to do with depressing
matters, and for this reason, they are both
portrayed negatively.
 The poems are also tied together because
of music; in “My Papa’s Waltz”, they were
dancing, and in “My Elegy For Jane”, they
were singing.

Original Work:
Quiet
Every morning, I wake up
In a white room and
Put on my clothes and
Leave
Blankly staring on the train
I see my friends and
I say nothing
In the classroom
The teacher tells me to speak up
Quiet
On a note, my mother wrote
Left on a table at home
It said
“My child cannot speak
Today he has laryngitis.
By: Anna Chan
Original Work:
Depression
Dragging my feet
Down the long hallways
Drowning in the sweat and heat
Walking into the classroom
Wanting some cold air
Wishing for an AC
But to my disappointment
Breaking my heart
Because there is no AC
By: Chu Miao Wang
Original Work:
Invisible

Looking out the window to the sky
I saw a fly
Passing by
All alone in this dark house
With a mouse
Everyone left no one stay
With each passing day
I feel loner
Everyone forgot even the owner
I was still here
Waiting to be hear
But no one remember
I want to be together
With everyone
But I can’t find anyone
I am invisible
Zhang
By: Kelly
Original Work:
Busy
I heard the rare sound of the wind
But the busyness of the city quickly
resumed
Cars honking; profane language
People rushing by to get to work on time
And not a single person pauses
To listen to the sound of the wind
By: Winnie Lee
Works Cited
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Biography of Theodore Roethke. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June
2013. <http://www.poemhunter.com/theodoreroethke/biography/>.
"Elegy for Jane Analysis." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 04
June 2013.
Ellmann, Richard, and Robert O'Clair. The Norton
Anthology of Modern Poetry,. New York: Norton, 1973.
Print.
"My Papa's Waltz Analysis." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 04
June 2013.
"Theodore Roethke." Soylent Communications, n.d.
Web. 01 June 2013.
<http://www.nndb.com/people/585/000099288/>.
Molesworth, Charles. "Roethke, Theodore." Grolier
Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2013.Web. 6
June 2013.