My Papa's Waltz

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke was a very powerful poem.  The “waltz” is not really a dance, but a metaphor for something much more violent.  Throughout the poem, it is easy to tell that it is really about a father who is abusive towards his son.  Also, something that is mentioned twice is that the boy is hanging on or clinging to his father’s shirt.  This particular detail struck me because children often cling to their parents and rely on them to protect them from harm.  In this boy’s case, his “protector” is also his abuser, and I think that he is kind of clinging to the hope that his father will change.