New Criticism attracts many readers to its methodologies by enticing them with clearly defined steps to follow to criticize any literary work. He rejects the use of all external sources, stating that the only way to truly analyze a poem efficiently is to focus solely on the words of the poem. For this interpretation I followed all the steps necessary to correctly analyze the poem. I have come to a consensus on both the tension and its resolution. The diction of a poem plays a vital role in analyzing a poem, considering that the text is all that is needed to discover its meaning. My Papa's Waltz is a fairly short poem, but the words have a lot of impact. The word “whisky” (line 1) implies that the father is a drunk, and this makes the boy “dizzy” (line 2) or in other words, nauseates him. The poem states that the boy is small, making him seem fragile, playing into the next lines of the poem. “Death” (line 3) has a negative connotation, along with “battered” (line 10), “beaten” (line 13), and “encrusted” (line 14). “Romped” (line 5) has a positive connotation that suggests harmless violent behavior. The word "face" (line 7) does not flow within the stanza, sounding sharp and negative, paralleling the mother's stern disapproval. “Hung” (line 3) is past, so the poem is a reflection of an earlier time. “Waltzed” (line 15) takes on a different meaning beyond dancing, making it synonymous with taking someone somewhere. Understanding the words of a poem was the first step in analyzing My Papa's Waltz using this methodology. Not only words, but figures of speech and other similar elements are important in analyzing poetry. Alliteration is present throughout the poem, such as in lines one through four and lines seven through eight. Alliteration from one to four (whiskey, waltz, was) flows well, in contrast to the negativity of the first stanza, while from seven to eight (expression, could) sounds unpleasant to the ear, emphasizing the mother's disapproval. The image of the father tapping time on the child's head with the palm of his hand seems harmful, as does the image of the father's injured hands holding the child's wrists. He describes the father as having absolute power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.