Little Boy Crying
By Mervyn Morris
Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt, the boy was shifted from laughing to crying
your laughter metamorphosed into howls,
your frame so recently relaxed now tight the boy becomes tense
with three year old frustration, your bright eyes frustration the three year old felt as he shifted
from laughing to crying and his body suddenly became tense.
swimming tears, splashing your bare feet, he’s crying hard, hyperbole this shows the
exaggerated crying of the child as the tears are said to be splashing his bare feet.
you stand there angling for a moment’s hint he stands as his mind is registering the quick slap he
got
of guilt or sorrow for the quick slap struck. How fast the slap was
The ogre towers above you, that grim giant, the child views his parent as an Ogre, because of his
size and cruelty,
empty of feeling, a colossal cruel,
soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, dead in the end the giant is defeated, dead
at last. You hate him, you imagine he hates his father for not feeling remorse for slapping him
chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down
or plotting deeper pits to trap him in. the boy plots revenge on his father
You cannot understand, not yet, the boy is too young to understand that he can’t hurt his father
and also what the father feels after he has slapped him.
the hurt your easy tears can scald him with, his father is pretending to feel nothing, in reality his
father feels bad.
nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask.
This fierce man longs to lift you, curb your sadness he wants to make his son feel happy
with piggy-back or bull fight, anything, he wants to play games with him
but dare not ruin the lessons you should learn. However we wants to teach his son a lesson
You must not make a plaything of the rain.
SUMMARY
The father has hit a 3 year old child and the boy is crying. The boy looks for guilt and sorrow in
the father but he does not show it even though he feels it. He wanted his song to learn a valuable
lesson.
THEMES
● Parent – Child Relationship
The father seems to be firm and strict with his son. Although he loves him he does not allow him
to have his own way.
● Childhood Experiences
The little boy experiences pain and resentment for his parents. Unlike Ana, his childhood is not
one that is carefree without any consequences for undesired behavior.
● Parenting
The father tries to be a good parent. In his eyes there are some lessons that his son must learn.
Therefore, he carries out physical punishment so that he can learn these lessons.
CONFLICT/TONE/.MOOD
● Man vs Man
● Tone, Remorse, Stern, Guilt
● Mood, Sadness and guilt
IMPORTANT WORDS/ PHRASES
● Stanza 1
The poem begins with a description of a child crying. However, his cries seem harsh and fierce
“Your laughter metamorphosed into howls”. This also suggests that the child is normally a
happy one and something happened to have changed his happiness. The last line in the stanza
informs us that the reason why the child is crying is because he has been beaten “the quick slap
struck”. The little boy is also staring at the parent hoping that he might be feeling guilty for
hitting him. This might mean that the child is trying to play on the parent’s emotion “you stand
there angling for a moment’s hint”.
● -]\Stanza 2
It is important to note that the stanza is giving the point of view of the parent. The parent is
imagining that the child is demonizing him for hitting him “The ogre towers above you, that
grim giant,// empty of feeling a colossal cruel”. From this, we can understand that the parent
thinks that the child believes that he is cruel and evil for hitting him and therefore is thinking of
ways to overcome or get away from the parent.
● Stanza 3
Poet makes it clear that the father loves his son. However, he is slapping him for is own good. He
also suggests that the father is hurt by the son’s tears and would do anything to make him stop
crying. “This fierce man longs to lift you//……” Yet, the lesson must be taught.
● Stanza 4
Maybe this stanza suggests that no matter what, there are often important behaviors or lessons
children must learn.
FIGURATIVE DEVICES
● PERSONIFICATION:
Line 5, swimming tears
● ONOMATOPOEIA:
Line 5, splashing
Line 6-7, slap
● IMAGERY:
Line 6-7, Quick Slap Struck
● ALLUSION:
Line 8-9, fairytale allusion of Jack and the Beanstalk
Line 12-13, fairytale allusion of Jack and the Beanstalk
● METAPHOR
Line 20
