Enjambed and End-Stopped Lines

The term enjambment (en-JAM-ment) refers to instances where a poetic line doesn’t end with punctuation, but rather runs over to the next line without stopping. By contrast, an end-stopped line always ends with some form of punctuation. Some forms of punctuation—such as commas, dashes, and semicolons—force a brief pause. Other forms of punctuation—such as periods, exclamation points, and question marks—force a longer pause. “My Papa’s Waltz” alternates strictly between enjambed and end-stopped lines. This pattern regularly features a short pause midway through each stanza and a full stop and the end, while allowing the first and third lines to run over. For instance, consider lies 5–8:

     We romped until the pans       [enjambed]
     Slid from the kitchen shelf;     [partial stop]
     My mother’s countenance       [enjambed]
     Could not unfrown itself.        [full stop]

This pattern, which persists throughout the poem, preserves an overall rhythm that helps create an illusion of 3/4 time. In musical analysis, “3/4” is called a time signature, and it means that each musical measure (or here: poetic line) gets three beats. Typically, four of these three-beat measures create one full melodic unit (or here: stanza). In other words, just as four measures of a waltz will feel like a complete melodic arc, so too does each stanza of the poem feel like a complete thought.

Extended Metaphor

An extended metaphor functions in the same way as an ordinary metaphor, but it differs in the amount of space devoted to its development. Whereas an ordinary metaphor may be mentioned in passing, an extended metaphor unfolds over the course of many lines. In the case of “My Papa’s Waltz,” the metaphor extends throughout the entire poem. The particular extended metaphor in Roethke’s poem reframes the rough treatment the speaker receives from his father as a waltz. The metaphorical link between physical abuse and dancing is perhaps most evident in the third stanza:

     The hand that held my wrist   
     Was battered on one knuckle;
     At every step you missed
     My right ear scraped a buckle.

In these lines (9–12), the speaker makes references that, at first glance, seem like they refer to the basic choreography of a waltz, which involves two people stepping together in a loose embrace. Upon closer inspection, however, this “choreography” appears increasingly violent. The “dancers” don’t hold hands, exactly. Instead, the speaker’s father holds his wrist with a hand that has a “battered . . . knuckle.” Similarly, when the speaker’s father misses one of the “dance” steps, the speaker’s ear gets scraped by a buckle. Though consistently framed as a waltz, the encounter at the heart the poem most certainly isn’t a dance.

Understatement

The term understatement refers to a rhetorical device that involves presenting something as smaller, less important, or less severe than it actually is. In the sense that this device involves a meaningful gap between what is said and what is meant, it is a form of irony. Understatement pervades the entirety of “My Papa’s Waltz”—beginning, in fact, with the title. First, consider the speaker’s use of the word “papa,” which is typically used as a term of endearment. Yet the relationship the speaker has with his father is far more tense than tender. Furthermore, the speaker frames the encounter with his father as a waltz, which deliberately misrepresents its seriousness. A waltz is a fast-paced, swirling dance that people usually engage in for pleasure and enjoyment. Yet the scene the speaker describes is not at all like a waltz. Instead of being elegant and swooping, it’s brimming with violence. Understatement is also at play more generally in the sing-song quality of the meter and rhyme scheme, which effectively downplay the troubling tension at the heart of the poem.