Form and Interpretation Affects Meaning

Response to–yep, you guessed it–an assignment!

My Papa’s Waltz seems to be an awesome poem to pick on, especially where potential exists for a reader to see more than what is written. The poem has a very even rhythm to it, with every other line matching perfectly in rhyme and being within one to two differences in length when counting syllables. This pace aids in setting the mood for the poem, depending upon whether a few keywords or phrases trigger a past emotional response in the reader.

On the face—which is where I sit in reading the poem—I see a hardworking father having come home after a hard days work and enjoying a silly little dance with his child after having supped and having a short drink to relax his weary muscles and aching bones. Unfortunately, Papa’s drink is rather strong and lingers on his breath; despite the revoltingly powerful smell, the child clings closely to the father—which makes the dancing all the more difficult.

Father and child dance quite a while, awkwardly moving about the room—likely having many near misses with the furniture—jostling the floor, sending vibrations up the walls, disturbing mother’s cookware. Though possibly enjoying the connection being shared between the father and child, mother still wasn’t all that pleased because of the unnecessary romping and messes being created by the raucous.

As time presses on the difficult movements of the pair become a bit more awkward as the father’s body tires—or the relaxing effects of the drink take hold. Clumsy, tired—and likely well-lubricated, by now—feet get in the way of themselves, and the poor kid—who assumedly stands roughly waist-high—scrapes their ear against the father’s belt buckle as they move about the room. Eventually, the dance comes to an end, as the father takes the child to bed.

Alternatively, one that might have an unpleasant childhood and relationship with alcohol could see further symbolism in this work. The first three lines of the poem suggest that “daddy is drinking again” and that the fearful child must “[hang] on like death”; the final line of that first stanza then suggests that the codeword for abuse in this situation is waltzing—dancing. From this point forward other keywords in the poem become symbolic code words: “We romped… hand that held my wrist… My right ear scraped a buckle… You beat [sic] my head…” Amongst these words, the mother frowning, becomes a fearful wife. The battered knuckle on the hand holding the child’s wrist becomes battered from striking the child, possibly from “beating” the child’s head instead of thrumming a rhythm as he held the child close.

All of those words and phrases along with the cadence—something which may also be present in an abusive situation (cadence, rhythm, pattern, order, control)—aid in changing the interpretation of the poem. This work shows a good example of the importance of all the elements of form discussed in this unit—and how they can sometimes twist the meaning depending upon the end reader’s influences in life.

…but, seriously, it’s a poem about a father and child goofing off after supper; I’ve done the same—though my breath doesn’t smell of a distillery, mine smells like an ashtray… (and the kids have pointed this out—a stink that one doesn’t necessarily appreciate, but will love and cling onto anyway, just because it means being close to dad.)

This post received the following responses:

Ashley Heenan:

I did this poem also. I must admit that poetry is not my strong suit and I don’t know much about it. I see most of it one-sided like it is written and have a hard time looking deeper. Until someone commented on my post talking about the child abuse, I wouldn’t have even considered it. Mainly because I couldn’t see how the mother would stand there and watch it. But after reading your post, I see now what the other person was talking about you, but your interpretation clearly defines what could be read deeper. Because of the meaning of the other interpretation, I do prefer to think of it as just the hardworking father dancing with his father instead of the father beating his so. That’s only because no one really likes to think about child abuse happening and having someone there watching it and not doing anything.

Patricia Stubbs:

I am mildly surprised that the people who tackled the inner meaning in this poem did not take it as a dark poem. However, that is only because this situational poem would have been too close to getting emotional for me to have handled its dissection well. I spent much of my childhood humoring a drunken parent. Life just went smoother when we went along with his plans, even if it is dancing through the kitchen like the little boy and his father in the poem. Thank you for spinning this into a more positive light. I think the father in the poem is a little too far gone on whiskey for this to be a good thing. If he was just playing around he would have noticed the little boy’s uneasiness. The last two lines show the unconditional love of a young child for their parent, as he still clings to his father to head to bed.