Poetry Analysis: “My Papa’s Waltz” Throughout the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, many techniques are used to show that there are furious conflicts between a father and his son. Roethke uses the word waltz in the title to relate to the beating of the son. I believe that the poem is altogether a negative poem, as described by the words and phrases the author uses. To begin, the author immediately states that the father is a drunk. Roethke says, “The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). The boy knows his father is drunk, and therefore knows he will be beaten. Since the boy realizes tha