Quick to Assume

In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz,” author Theodore Roethke portrays the complicated love he has for his father using vivid images from his childhood. Roethke appropriately chooses iambic trimeter as it is poetry’s equivalent to music’s three-quarter or waltz time. The waltz that Roethke describes varies slightly from the traditional alacrity associated with the ballroom dance, yet still invites signs of happiness. Roethke transports the reader to his childhood which was filled with conflicting feelings of idolization, fear, comfort, and dependency.

Upon the first reading of “My Papa’s Waltz,” the reader might assume that the poem suggests that the speaker was beaten as a child by a drunken brute of a father. Yet, after multiple readings, it is clear that Roethke’s choice of words depicts a completely different scenario. It is no accident that the feeling of alcohol-induced clumsiness is prevalent in the first stanza through the slant rhyme of dizzy and easy. (Lines 2 and 4) Yet the pairing of breath and death is potentially misleading, and can cause the reader to hastily come to the conclusion that father and son are consumed by a metaphorical death dance. (Lines 1 and 3) Rather than running away in fear during the “waltz,” Roethke describes the child as clinging onto the father. This suggests that the child is a willing participant in the father’s shenanigans, even though at times it may not be easy. (Line 4)

The second stanza continues the tone of playfulness and critical affection. The use of the word romped in line 5, indicates that the chaotic activity between father and son is benign in nature. Although the mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself, there is no indication that the mother felt compelled to stop the commotion for her son’s safety. (Lines 7 and 8)

The speaker’s discomfort is evident in the third stanza; at every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle, yet scraped is too gentle of a word to indicate serious harm. (Lines 11 and 12) Additionally, in the fourth stanza, the father beat time on the boy’s head. (Line 13) This could mean that the father literally struck the boy repeatedly, or more likely, Roethke used the musical meaning of the word “beat,” referring to the marking of time. It is only after a close investigation of Roethke’s word choice does it become clear that the father, although a little inebriated, is not hurting the child physically.

The third and fourth stanzas further confirm that the child in the poem is indeed Roethke. The images of the father’s battered knuckles and dirt-caked hands fit the biographical information of Roethke’s father, Otto Roethke. (Lines 10 and 14) Otto Roethke was a German immigrant who owned nurseries and had a strong Prussian temperament. Like many sons, Roethke had an almost religious reverence for his father and was particularly distraught by his father’s untimely death when Roethke was fifteen.
The poem concludes as the father takes the little boy to bed with the child still clinging to his shirt with an unwavering love.
Throughout the poem, there is no indication that the son, Roethke, has any lingering feelings of bitterness or hatred. To think of “My Papa’s Waltz” as an account of the beaten child of an alcoholic would be to over-simplify Roethke’s intricate humor. Although there are dark elements, overall, the poem recounts odd but happy memories.

Persuaded to Read Persuasion

So, I chose Jane Austen’s Persuasion for two fairly simple reasons:


1. I own it on CD and listening to characters speak the dialogue in a book is, personally, a much more enjoyable way of reading.
2. I was amused by the social commentary in Pride and Prejudice and figured that if Ms. Austin wrote one great book then her others would probably be just as wonderful.

I have read only the first chapter of Persuasion but have found it to be just as amusing, if not more than, Pride and Prejudice. This week I have the 6 hour drive to and from California in which I expect to finish (or at least get very close to finishing) the book.

So far I have been introduced to the exceedingly narcissistic character of Sir Walter Elliot. I am excited to see what Ms. Austen has in store for Sir Walter Elliot because he seems to be a perfect character for her to expose the gluttony within society. I have also met his daughter’s Elizabeth, Anne, and Mary who appear to be three very distinct personalities. All in all, I am excited to learn more about the Elliots and what character flaws and strengths Austen has to comment on.