My Papa's Waltz

One of my favorite poems that I've read in the English Major course was "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke. I loved this poem because it is so sweet yet so sad, and because of that bittersweet-ness, it reminds me of The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. It's one of my favorite books, because the story of a girl who came from a neglectful home in Welch, West Virginia and made it to Park Avenue as a renowned author inspires and fascinates me. In the poem, the young boy is talking about the "waltz" he does with his father each night. Really, it seems as though the father is simply coming home drunk and horse-playing with his son, but the boy sees it as a dance. Sometimes, it even sounds like a beating ("At every step you missed, my right ear scraped a buckle.")

It's very sad, because it is obvious at the end that the little boy only wants to be with his father. He doesn't realize that he isn't a priority to his dad, only someone to send off the bed after a night of drinking. The father, however troubled he is, does seem somewhat loving. That is the part that reminds me of The Glass Castle: Jeanette and her father loved each other and had a very close relationship, and even when he tried to ruin her (by stealing the money she planned on using to go to New York City), he loved her and cared about her. Even though he was a very disturbed man, like the man in the poem, he was also a loving father. Not a good father, but a loving one.