My Papa's Waltz-Theodore Roethke

The boy in the poem is dancing with his father. He is not really dancing, but his father is leading him around. His father is probably drunk because of the whiskey on his breath. The dance seems kind of violent. The boy describes it like hanging on to death. They danced for a long time, and he would scrap his ear on his dad's buckle when his dad would miss a step. His father would keep time on the boy's head. The mom also did not seem too happy about the dancing. His father could have also been in fights though because the boy remarked how his knuckle was battered, but that could have also been from a hard days work because his father's head was caked with dirt. The poem could also go through the process of the boy growing up. In the first stanza, the boy says how he was a small boy. In the second, he remarks on how they romped around. This could mean that the boy and his father had fun during his childhood and didn't really take anything too seriously which was why the mom would frown upon them. In the third, the boy says how he would scrap his ear when his dad would miss a step. This could have been because his father taught him many things, and when his father didn't tell him some things, he would have a hard time. In the last stanza, the boy says how the father waltzed him off to bed even though he was still clinging to his father's shirt. His father could have sent the boy out into the real world even though the boy did not think he was ready or prepared for it, and he still wanted his father's guidance.