My Papa's Waltz : Style

“My Papa’s Waltz” follows a loose ballad form. Its four-line stanzas feature an ABAB rhyme scheme — that is, the first line rhymes with the third and the second rhymes with the fourth, as in head/bed and dirt/shirt. The words on each line generally alternate between unstressed and stressed syllables. For example: my MOTH / er’s COUN / tenANCE could NOT / unFROWN / itSELF. Each pair (or “foot”) of unstressed and stressed syllables is known as an “iamb”; so the meter of “My Papa’s Waltz” is called “iambic.” Since each line generally contains three iambs, the meter may more precisely be called “iambic trimeter,” meaning that each line is composed of three (the “tri” in “trimeter”) iambs.

Roethke varies this pattern considerably, however. Several lines have seven syllables rather than six, and in many places the iambic rhythm is disrupted. Line 14, for instance, has a very uneven pattern; only the last two syllables form an iamb: with a / PALM CAKED / HARD / by DIRT This irregular form of iambic meter is called “ballad meter,” since many ballads have just such variations in their meters. Irregularities often give a poem an informal, conversational feel. This seems entirely appropriate to “My Papa’s Waltz,” with its elements of nostalgic reminiscence. The variations in meter also suggest instability, however, and here they emphasize the father’s unsteadiness. The poem’s departures from the regularity of the iambic meter seem to mimic the father’s missed steps.

The unsteadiness is also brought out by the seven-syllable lines. In several cases, the extra syllables are the result of so-called “feminine,” or two-syllable, rhymes, as in dizzy/easy and knuckle/buckle. Feminine rhymes are often employed in comic verse, as they have a lighter, less emphatic feel than “masculine,” or one-syllable, rhymes. Here Roethke employs them to evoke a sense of uncertainty, a “dizzy” quality that is well suited to the father’s erratic dancing.

Compare & Contrast

• 1948: As the British mandate over Palestine comes to an end, Israel is recognized as an independent state and opens her doors to the world’s Jewish population.

  1997: A peace treaty is negotiated by American President Bill Clinton between Israelis and Palestinians in April, but breaks down within months as fighting resumes.

• 1948: The term “cold war” is coined by U.S. presidential adviser Bernard Baruch to express the tacit conflicts between communist and democratic superpowers, the U.S.S.R., and the U.S.

  November 9,1990: The cold war symbolically ends as the Berlin Wall is dismantled. Germany is reunited and the Soviet Union begins its dissolution into smaller entities — in many cases, according to their former ethnic status.

• 1948: Apartheid, the practice of separating the races, is established by vote on May 26 in South Africa.

  February 11, 1990: After 27 years in prison, the president of the African National Congress Nelson Mandela is freed. A few years later, he is elected as president of South Africa.

• 1948: Jackson Pollock begins to paint with splashes of color and line, reducing painting to its basic formal elements. This trend in painting becomes to be known as Abstract Expressionism.

  Today: Gender, politics, ethnicity and other art media have entered the arena of painting, which today can only be called “postmodern.”

• 1948: McDonald’s opens its first self-service restaurant in San Bernadino, California.

  Today: McDonald’s has more than 15,000 restaurants and 21 percent of the fast-food market in the U.S. Because domestic profits are climbing slowly, McDonald’s has expanded overseas where less competition, lighter market saturation and its already high profile have brought success.

• 1948: The long-play 33-1/3 rpm record is introduced, revolutionizing the music industry as the new medium can hold more music than can the 78 rpm record.

  The mid-1980s: Forty years later, the compact disc begins another revolution in the industry, replacing vinyl records.