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Roethke sustains a repeating ABAB rhyme scheme across the four stanzas of “My Papa’s Waltz.” Some of the rhymes in the poem are imperfect, as in the case of “dizzy” and “easy” (lines 2 and 4). This is an example of slant rhyme, since the initial vowel sound in each word differs slightly, even though both end in the same “-zy” sound. For the most part, however, the rhymes in the poem are all exact, and in this way the rhyme scheme is very traditional. Many twentieth-century poets have avoided rhyme because they found it formally rigid and therefore limiting. On an aesthetic level, rhyme can also convey an old-fashioned and even idealizing tone. In Roethke’s case, however, the use of a traditional rhyme scheme has a significant emotional effect. This effect arises from the almost cheerful quality of the rhyme scheme, which stands in ironic contrast with the poem’s troubling subject matter. “My Papa’s Waltz” depicts an unnerving scene that borders on domestic abuse. Yet the speaker recounts this scene with sing-song rhymes that, when paired with a jaunty meter, conveys an oddly lighthearted tone. The contrast has a powerful, even devastating effect on the reader.

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