My Papa's Waltz - Plot Analysis

In My Papa's Waltz, the author Theodore Roethke discussed so much in very little text. The poem speaks of a boy having a waltz with his father. Bringing up the whiskey smell on his breath, the dirt on his hands, and rough housing he shows during their physical interactions. Although the mother seems to look on with a look of resentment or slight disappointment towards the whole thing, the boy still loves his father none the less.

This particular poem goes on to express a son's emotional loss for his father. It sounds as though the boys relationship with his father before he started doing "mans work" outside and drinking, was a joyous one. He was excited to see his father. He thought lovingly of his father. And while the author recognizes the changes his father made into becoming a physically careless drunk, he still thinks of their interactions fondly. The mother looks on, as if she knows what's going on isn't right. But who is she to stop her son, from overlooking his fathers fault? While the situation is serious, Roethke brought some lightness and humor to it, maybe to show the reader that even in the darkest of scenarios, to find the silver lining.