My Papas Waltz By Theodore Roethke

“Nothing is weaker or smaller than the man who hurts women or children. Whether by his actions or by his words.” – unknown. When the reader first looks at the poem or the title “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke they might think it’s a simple poem but if they look closer to it they will see it is actually about child abuse. The father gets to the house drunk and starts to beat up his son. This means that the setting takes place in their home. This reflects what the kid went through when he was young. The poet shows imagery, allegory, and metaphor in the poem with a three beat per line until the end of each line. Theodore uses imagery just by the title called “My Papa’s Waltz”. It is expected to see some type of dancing but a better word