AI ToolsNew
Tools to make learning and teaching easier
Question about this poem?
Have a question about this poem?
Have a specific question about this poem?
Have a specific question about this poem?
Have a specific question about this poem?
A LitCharts expert can help.
A LitCharts expert can help.
A LitCharts expert can help.
A LitCharts expert can help.
A LitCharts expert can help.
Ask us
Ask us
Ask a question
Ask a question
Ask a question
-
“Little Boy Crying” Introduction
-
The Jamaican poet Mervyn Morris published "Little Boy Crying" in his 2006 collection I Been There, Sort Of. The poem takes place immediately after a father has slapped his young son. Although readers aren't sure what led to this situation, it soon becomes clear that the father regrets the way he has treated his son. It's also clear that the boy is able to sense this regret, though this does nothing to make him feel better. In this way, the poem is an exploration of the complex dynamics of a father-son relationship characterized by love, resentment, and regret.
-
-
“Little Boy Crying” Summary
-
The poem opens with a description of a little boy's mouth twisting into an expression of anger and pain. The boy's laughter has just transformed into shrieking cries, and his posture—which was previously loose and care-free—has become stiff, ultimately reflecting the kind of irritation and anger that is characteristic of three-year-old children. The child's perceptive eyes have also teared up and are now overflowing so that the tears fall onto his feet as he stands in place and tries to detect a sense of guilt or remorse on behalf of his father, who slapped him.
The boy's father stands above him like a cruel, terrifying monster, an ominous giant who feels no emotion at all. Incredibly large and mean, the father is the one who will—by the end of this interaction—truly feel the consequences of his own actions and be defeated by the boy's emotional reaction. To that end, the boy hates him and imagines chopping down a tree that his father—in his imagination—is trying desperately to climb out of; alternatively, the boy fantasizes about antagonizing his father by digging holes in the ground as a way of setting traps into which the man might fall.
The boy isn't yet old enough to understand how much it pains his father to see him cry. He also couldn't possibly grasp that his father has begun to second-guess his own disciplinary actions even though his facial expression suggests that he's still furious. In reality, what this seemingly intimidating man really wants is to embrace his son and comfort him by playing with him. However, the boy's father doesn't do this because he's afraid that cheering up his son might contradict the lesson he originally wanted to teach the boy.
The poem then concludes with an ambiguous warning about not taking the rain seriously enough.
-
-
“Little Boy Crying” Themes
-
Youth and Innocence
“Little Boy Crying” explores the simple innocence of youth and the ways in which children try to make sense of the world. The poem specifically focuses on a little boy’s attempt to process the fact that his father has just hit him. As he responds to this violent outburst, the boy is overcome by emotion and begins to cry. However, the boy also senses that his father might feel “guilt or sorrow” for having hit him, and this realization suggests that the child isn’t quite as naïve as it might seem. In this way, the poem implies that children are capable of picking up on complex emotions even if they don’t yet know how to fully process or make sense of them.
Although it is made contextually clear by the end of the first stanza that the little boy is upset because his father has hit him, it’s worth noting that the poem begins after this act of violence. As a result, readers experience the same kind of confusion and disorientation that the boy himself feels in the aftermath of the slap. This, in turn, invites readers to empathize with the boy’s struggle to grasp why his father would intentionally hurt him—an idea that floods the child with tears in an overflow of sudden emotion. In this moment, then, the poem presents the child as too innocent and sensitive to fully comprehend what has just happened.
Despite the child’s apparent naivety, though, the last two lines of the first stanza clarify that he is able to sense the more complicated emotions lying behind his father’s mask of anger. Standing before his father while crying, the boy tries to detect a “hint” of “guilt” on his father’s behalf. This awareness that his father might regret his own actions is remarkable because it indicates that, although the boy might not completely understand what has just happened, this doesn’t mean he’s totally naïve when it comes to recognizing certain emotional complexities.
And yet, registering his father’s possible guilt doesn’t make the boy feel any better. The boy senses that his father might feel bad for hitting him, but this is a seemingly momentary realization, not one that actually endears the father to the boy or helps the boy see him as a human being capable of making mistakes. Rather, the boy resents his father, unable to see that his father hit him precisely because he cares about him so much. In this regard, the poem frames the boy as emotionally intuitive but ultimately limited by his lack of experience in navigating the confusing nuances of the adult world.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-20
-
Parenting, Love, and Discipline
“Little Boy Crying” captures how difficult it can be for a parent to discipline a child. In keeping with this, the poem suggests that sometimes misguided and harsh methods of discipline actually come from a place of love.
This becomes clear in the poem’s third stanza, when readers witness the father’s struggle to balance his remorse for hitting his son with his desire to teach the boy a lesson. Of course, it’s never made clear what, exactly, this lesson is, but it’s obvious that the father doesn’t want to diminish it by showing remorse, even if he regrets the violent way he handled the situation. All in all, then, the poem portrays just how challenging it can be to convey love and affection to a child while also trying to discipline that child—a challenge the father ultimately fails to handle effectively.
The poem does not condone the father’s violent behavior, but it also doesn’t go out of its way to cast judgment on him. Instead, the unidentified speaker simply suggests that the father suffers as a result of his own violent reaction. Indeed, the speaker calls the father the “soon victim of the tale’s conclusion,” meaning that, although the boy is the one who immediately feels the pain of the slap, the father is the one who will truly suffer the consequences. This, in turn, implies that the father will regret his outburst for a long time, remembering it and wishing he could take it back.
At the same time, though, the father doesn’t even try to take back his violent outburst. Instead, he just stands there and watches his son cry, trying his best to hide the fact that the boy’s tears hurt him deeply. To that end, he hides his own emotions because he “dare not ruin the lessons” he thinks the boy should learn—and since he slapped the boy in an attempt to teach him one of these lessons, he believes cheering him up in the aftermath of this slap would be unwise. In other words, the father regrets hitting the boy, but he fears that letting this regret show might diminish an otherwise important lesson.
As a result, it becomes clear that the father sees it as his duty to teach his son certain things, and though he goes about this in a problematic way, he won’t let himself undermine the message he originally tried to convey. In this way, the poem doesn’t excuse the father’s violence but does shed light on the complicated fact that sometimes a parent’s mistreatment of a child can be wrapped up in love and affection, ultimately coming from a place of genuine care and concern.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 6-7
- Lines 8-13
- Lines 14-20
-
-
Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Little Boy Crying”
-
Lines 1-4
Your mouth contorting ...
... with three-year-old frustration,The poem opens by focusing on a little boy—referred to as "you"—who has just begun to cry. At this point, it's not yet clear what has happened to make the boy's expression twist into an image of pain and anger.
Instead of clarifying the circumstances of the little boy's exasperation, though, the first four lines ("Your mouth ... bright eyes") simply draw attention to the nature of the boy's unhappiness. They create a stark juxtaposition between the boy's previous joy and his current mood by highlighting the quick transformation of "laughter" into tears and "howls." In turn, the poem encourages readers to experience the raw and overpowering onslaught of emotion that the little boy himself is feeling in this moment.
To achieve this effect, the unidentified speaker uses anaphora, repeating the word "your" at the beginning of each clause. This not only calls attention to the little boy (who is the primary subject of the poem), but also spotlights the fact that readers should inhabit the boy's perspective as if they are the ones whose laughter has suddenly transformed into "howls." Accordingly, the world of this little boy ultimately emerges as relatable and immediate, allowing readers to remember what it's like to be young and deeply upset.
On that note, it becomes apparent that the boy's discontent is all-consuming, since his entire body —which was previously "relaxed"—has gone stiff and rigid in "three-year-old frustration." This description suggests that the boy is unable to keep whatever is upsetting him at bay, thereby indicating that he doesn't yet have the coping mechanisms to process troubling emotions. In this sense, the boy's innocence comes to the forefront of the poem, framing him as a youngster who hasn't yet developed the ability to work through hardship.
The consonance in this section also adds to the general sensation of what it's like to be overwhelmed, as the guttural /r/ and tapping /t/ sounds repeat rather relentlessly:
Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt,
your laughter metamorphosed into howls,
your frame so recently relaxed now tight
with three-year-old frustrationThese sounds creating a low growling, biting sound that is reminiscent of the child's frustration. Consequently, readers feel the overpowering quality of the boy's emotions, which are intense and seemingly impossible to control.
-
Lines 4-7
your bright eyes ...
... quick slap struck.
Unlock all 582 words of this analysis of Lines 4-7 of “Little Boy Crying,” and get the Line-by-Line Analysis for every poem we cover.
Plus so much more...
Get LitCharts A+ -
Lines 8-11
The ogre towers ...
... at last. -
Lines 11-13
You hate him, ...
... trap him in. -
Lines 14-16
You cannot understand, ...
... behind that mask. -
Lines 17-19
This fierce man ...
... you should learn. -
Line 20
You must not ... of the rain.
-
-
“Little Boy Crying” Symbols
-
The Tree
The child in "Little Boy Crying" imagines that his father is climbing up a tree, an image that represents the disconnect he feels from his father as a result of his father's disciplinary actions. More specifically, it's notable that the tree physically elevates the father over the boy, ultimately symbolizing his power over the child.
The fact that the boy fantasizes about cutting down this tree suggests that he actively resents his father's authority and control and hopes to use his power against him. After all, if the tree is a symbol of the father's dominance, then the boy's desire to cut it down is a clear indication that he wants to turn that power around to hurt him. In turn, the tree itself comes to symbolize not only the father's authority, but also the boy's recognition of that authority and, furthermore, his ability to respond to nuanced and contradictory adult emotions (even if he doesn't fully understand these emotions).
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 11-12: “you imagine / chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down”
-
-
“Little Boy Crying” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
-
Alliteration
Alliteration appears in very concentrated areas in "Little Boy Crying," often as a way of adding subtle emphasis to phrases and contributing to the poem's overall musical quality. The speaker uses alliteration in short bursts, offering up phrases like "recently relaxed" and "colossal cruel" to add a brief sense of repetition that ultimately enhances the rhythm of the poem.
This also calls attention to important words or phrases, like the notion that the father wants his son to learn certain lessons: "but dare not ruin the lessons you should learn." The alliterated /l/ sound in this moment spotlights the line's most important words ("lessons" and "learn"), thereby underlining just how adamant the father is that the son must pay attention to life lessons even when they are harsh.
Other instances of alliteration are even less apparent because they are folded into the poem so neatly. For instance, line 12 ("chopping clean ... scrambling down") includes alliteration even though none of the words in the entire line begin with the same letter. Indeed, the word "chopping" and "tree" both begin with the /ch/ sound, and since alliteration is based on sound and not spelling, this means that these words are alliterative with one another.
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 3: “recently,” “relaxed”
- Line 5: “swimming,” “splashing”
- Line 9: “colossal,” “cruel”
- Line 12: “chopping,” “tree”
- Line 13: “plotting,” “pits”
- Line 17: “longs,” “lift”
- Line 18: “back,” “bull”
- Line 19: “lessons,” “learn”
- Line 20: “must,” “make”
-
Anaphora
Unlock all 307 words of this analysis of Anaphora in “Little Boy Crying,” and get the poetic device analyses for every poem we cover.
Plus so much more...
Get LitCharts A+ -
Assonance
-
Consonance
-
Metaphor
-
Caesura
-
Enjambment
-
Juxtaposition
-
Irony
-
-
“Little Boy Crying” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Contorting
- Spite
- Metamorphosed
- Frame
- Angling
- Ogre
- Grim
- Colossal
- Soon
- Plotting
- Scald
- Wavering
- Curb
- Plaything
Contorting-
(Location in poem: Line 1: “contorting”)
Twisting, distorting, or bending out of shape.
-
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Little Boy Crying”
-
Form
"Little Boy Crying" does not adhere to any standard poetic form. In fact, it doesn't even follow its own structure, since it isn't consistent with itself. To that end, the first stanza contains seven lines, whereas the second and third stanzas each include only six, and the final stanza stands apart from the rest of the poem as a single line.
The fact that the last stanza is so short is quite noticeable, calling attention to the line and setting it in contrast to the rest of the poem. This aligns with the overall tone and meaning of this line, considering that it is more ambiguous and abstract than anything else in the poem.
To that end, the final line functions as a short lesson that the the father hopes the child will internalize. It therefore differs from the other lines because it represents a shift in tone, as the majority of the poem describes the situation developing between the father and the son, whereas the last line is a directive that could have been uttered by the father himself. In turn, readers see that the decision to give this final line its own stanza ultimately emphasizes an overall shift in tone and (possibly) perspective.
-
Meter
"Little Boy Crying" is a work of free verse. That said, many of the lines that are roughly the same length (10 syllables). Consequently, the poem's rhythm remains loose and unpredictable even though the lines match each other in length—a blend of spontaneity and structure that reflects the juxtaposition between the child's free-spirited innocence and the father's strict, authoritative parenting.
-
Rhyme Scheme
The poem does not follow a rhyme scheme, nor does it even contain many rhymes at all. The poem does use assonance to create a sense of musicality, but it lacks the strictness of full rhyme. This, in turn, keeps it from feeling too structured or predictable.
That said, there is an internal slant rhyme between "make" and "rain" in the final line. This rhyme gives the line a song-like quality that ultimately suggests that the father has told the boy not to make a "plaything of the rain" many times before. In other words, this imperfect rhyme (which is the result of the assonant long /a/ sound in both words) musically presents the entire last line as if it's a well-worn phrase, one that would perhaps appear as the moral of a fairytale.
-
-
“Little Boy Crying” Speaker
-
The speaker of "Little Boy Crying" remains anonymous. Instead of revealing any self-identifying information, the speaker focuses on the father and the little boy, concentrating on the various dynamics of their relationship. Consequently, it's impossible to draw any conclusions about the speaker's identity. At the same time, though, it's worth noting that it's possible to interpret the last line ("You must not make a plaything of the rain") as having come not from the speaker, but from the father himself. Under this interpretation, the perspective shifts in the final line so that the father can outline one of the "lessons" he wants his son to learn. However, it's also perfectly possible that this isn't the case and that the original speaker is the one to clarify the father's wish that his son refrain from making a "plaything of the rain."
-
-
“Little Boy Crying” Setting
-
The poem's setting is never fully described. The only thing readers know for sure is that the little boy and his father are spending time together and that the father slapped the child immediately before the poem began. Why he did this is never revealed, since the speaker doesn't clarify what the boy and his father were doing right before, nor where they are or, for that matter, anything else about their circumstances. Instead, the poem fixates on the nuances of their relationship in this specific moment of conflict, choosing to highlight the anger, resentment, and love that characterizes their bond. This, in turn, makes up for the lack of contextual information in the poem.
-
-
Literary and Historical Context of “Little Boy Crying”
Literary Context
Mervyn Morris was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1937. He later became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England before returning to live and teach in Jamaica. An important figure in the West Indian literary landscape, he was an early proponent of poetry that uses "nation language," a term that refers to the unique approach to language employed by writers from the Caribbean and the African Diaspora. Morris has praised nation language in poetry as a way of establishing and vitalizing Jamaican culture through the arts.
Given his advocacy of this kind of West Indian representation in literature, it's worth considering Mervyn Morris alongside other contemporary and 20th-century West Indian poets like Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite (who came up with the term "nation language"), James Berry, and Lorna Goodison. However, unlike some of his contemporaries, Morris has throughout his career refrained from composing blatantly political poems about Jamaican independence and post-colonialism, instead focusing on more personal matters in his poetry. In 2014, he was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Jamaica, the first to hold that title since the country won independence from the United Kingdom in 1962.
Setting aside Morris's influence on Jamaican and West Indian literature, though, "Little Boy Crying" is not written in nation language, nor does it draw upon Jamaican or West Indian contextual elements. Instead, the poem focuses on universal ideas about parenting and fatherhood, thereby placing it in conversation with other famous poems about the same topic. Indeed, poems about fatherhood like Li-Young Lee's "The Gift," James Wright's "Youth," and "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden all engage with similar themes of responsibility and the nuances of parent-child relationships.
What's more, "Little Boy Crying" should also be considered alongside other poems about childhood, since it largely focuses on the little boy's feelings. With this in mind, readers might notice a connection between Morris's poem and Mark Doty's "A Replica of the Parthenon," in which two children struggle to make sense of adult ideas. Similarly, James Merrill's "The World and the Child" features a child yearning to be loved and cared for by an adult—a feeling that the boy in "Little Boy Crying" undoubtedly feels after his father betrays him by slapping him unexpectedly.
Historical Context
"Little Boy Crying" doesn't take place in a specific environment or time period. At the same time, though, it's worth noting that the poem was published in 2006, making it an example of contemporary poetry. To that end, the fact that the poem is written in free verse is unsurprising, since the majority of poetry published in the contemporary era avoids the use of meter.
Furthermore, the poem explores the negative impact of violent disciplinary measures on the relationships parents have with their children. This is a distinctly contemporary area of interest, since widespread condemnation of physical punishment is a rather recent development. In fact, corporal punishment in schools is still technically legal in many places, including Jamaica (where Morris lives). However, there's no denying that the overall attitude toward violently punishing children has shifted in the last 50 years or so—a shift that "Little Boy Crying" reflects with its concentration on the tension that arises as a result of the father's violent behavior and the son's reaction to this severe form of discipline.
-
More “Little Boy Crying” Resources
-
External Resources
-
Poems About Fatherhood — Check out the Poetry Foundation's collection of poems that, like "Little Boy Crying," center around the topic of fatherhood.
-
Morris Gives a Reading — Watch Mervyn Morris read some of his poetry aloud.
-
More About Morris — Check out this overview of Mervyn Morris's life and work, including a number of recordings of the poet reading his own work (including "Little Boy Crying").
-
Poems About Childhood — Take a look at this overview of poems that, also like "Little Boy Crying," are concerned with childhood and growing up.
-
-
