My Papa's Waltz - Theodore Roethke

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 on my head

With a palm caked by dirt,

Then waltzed me off to bed

Still clinging to your shirt.

The composer of this poem is Theodore Roethke.

The form of this poem is Iambic Trimeter.

The poem is about how the poet's father is a drunk, clumsy and grumpy. The poet is hanging on to his father and they are waltzing around the room, and into the kitchen bumping into pots and pans even though his mother doesn't like it. While they are waltzing the poet is getting hit unintentionally and eventually they waltz off to bed.

The message of the poem is about love and acceptance. The poet's father is a drunk, which is shown in the first stanza where the poet states that he can smell the whisky on his father's breath and the poet's father is clumsy which is shown in the second stanza where the poet states that the romped around until the pans fell from the kitchen shelf. Despite these flaws in the poet's father, the poet still loves and accepts his father.

The tone created in the poem is love and acceptance as the poet shows how he loves and still accepts his dad how he is.

Some techniques are:

Rhyme Scheme - 'The whisky on your breath.....but I hung on like death.' - It is an A-B rhyme scheme because the first and third sentences rhyme and the second and fourth rhyme. This goes for all of the stanzas.

Symbolism - 'With a palm caked hard by dirt.' - this shows how his father has worked hard his life which is proved by his rock hard hands.

Repetition - 'Such waltzing was not easy..... Then waltzed me off to bed.' - These two sentences show how the poem is based around the word waltzing.

My opinion of this poem is that it shows how we shouldn't compare our parents to other and how we should love our parents even if they have certain flaws. However we should always  remember  that nobody is perfect and that we should love our parents the way they are.