Previous Next

In many ways, “My Papa’s Waltz” formally mimics the very “waltz” described in the poem. Each stanza is structured by rigid three-beat lines, arranged in an equally strict ABAB rhyme scheme. The shortness of the lines helps convey a sense of swiftness, while the regularly repeating rhymes provide an overall feeling of measuredness. The speaker’s strict adherence to metrical form and rhyme scheme echoes the kind of precision that dancers must have to perform a waltz correctly. Yet there are also moments in the poem where the tense “waltz” between father and son gets wonky. In the opening stanza, for instance, there are extra syllables that destabilize the rhythm ever so slightly, making it difficult for the speaker to keep up with his father. He suggests as much in lines 3–4:

     But I | hung on | like death:   
     Such waltz- | ing was | not ea- | sy.

The extra unstressed syllable at the end of the second line makes the meter falter, which, in a darkly humorously way, reflects a key challenge of the waltz as a dance form. Waltzes often move at a fast pace, making it difficult for inexperienced dancers to keep up. Clearly, the speaker has trouble “following” his “leader” in the “dance.”

Although the title explicitly frames the poem as a “waltz,” it’s important to note that “My Papa’s Waltz” is also organized around an idiomatic phrase in English. Native English speakers often refer to the act of grabbing and leading someone unceremoniously as “waltzing” someone somewhere. This phrase doesn’t necessarily imply violence. However, it does imply some degree of coldness or unkindness. Hence, the phrase contains an embedded irony. Whereas waltzing is usually considered an enjoyable activity, the act of waltzing someone away is decidedly not fun. The speaker explicitly references this idiom in the poem’s final stanza (lines 13–16):

     You beat time on my head   
     With a palm caked hard by dirt,   
     Then waltzed me off to bed
     Still clinging to your shirt.

These lines suggest that the whole poem takes place at the speaker’s bedtime. It’s possible that the tension in the poem stems in part from the speaker’s reluctance to go to bed. The boy’s reluctance upset his drunken father, who escalated the tension to near violence. Then, to bring the “dance” to a close, the father ended the tussle by unceremoniously “waltzing” his son off to bed.

Previous section Tone Next section Meter

Take a Study Break