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.

• Read the full text of “Little Boy Crying”

• “Little Boy Crying” Summary

• “Little Boy Crying” Themes

  • 

    Youth and Innocence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20
  • 

    Parenting, Love, and Discipline

    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,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-7

    your bright eyes ...
    ... quick slap struck.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-11

    The ogre towers ...
    ... at last.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-13

    You hate him, ...
    ... trap him in.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 14-16

    You cannot understand, ...
    ... behind that mask.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-19

    This fierce man ...
    ... you should learn.

    

    

    

    

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  • Line 20

    You must not ... of the rain.

    

    

    

    

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• “Little Boy Crying” Symbols

  • 

    The Tree

    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

    

    

    

    

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    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

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Your”
    • Line 2: “your”
    • Line 3: “your”
    • Line 4: “your”
    • Line 6: “you”
    • Line 11: “You,” “you”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “recently,” “relaxed”
    • Line 4: “three,” “year,” “bright,” “eyes”
    • Line 5: “tears,” “feet”
    • Line 6: “hint”
    • Line 7: “guilt,” “quick”
    • Line 9: “cruel”
    • Line 10: “soon,” “conclusion”
    • Line 11: “at,” “last,” “him,” “imagine”
    • Line 12: “clean,” “tree,” “he’s”
    • Line 13: “deeper,” “pits,” “him,” “in”
    • Line 14: “cannot,” “understand”
    • Line 15: “easy,” “tears,” “him,” “with”
    • Line 20: “make,” “plaything,” “rain”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “contorting,” “spite,” “hurt”
    • Line 2: “your,” “laughter,” “metamorphosed,” “into”
    • Line 3: “your,” “frame,” “recently,” “relaxed,” “tight”
    • Line 4: “three,” “year,” “frustration,” “your,” “bright”
    • Line 5: “swimming,” “tears,” “splashing,” “your,” “bare,” “feet”
    • Line 6: “stand,” “there,” “for,” “moment’s,” “hint”
    • Line 7: “guilt,” “sorrow,” “for,” “quick,” “slap,” “struck”
    • Line 8: “ogre,” “towers”
    • Line 9: “feeling,” “colossal,” “cruel”
    • Line 10: “conclusion”
    • Line 11: “hate,” “him,” “imagine”
    • Line 12: “chopping,” “tree”
    • Line 13: “plotting,” “deeper,” “pits,” “trap”
    • Line 14: “cannot,” “understand,” “not”
    • Line 15: “hurt,” “your,” “easy,” “tears,” “scald”
    • Line 16: “nor,” “guess,” “wavering,” “hidden,” “behind,” “mask”
    • Line 17: “This,” “fierce,” “longs,” “to,” “lift,” “curb,” “sadness”
    • Line 18: “back,” “bull”
    • Line 19: “dare,” “ruin,” “lessons,” “should,” “learn”
    • Line 20: “must,” “make”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-13: “The ogre towers above you, that grim giant, / empty of feeling, a colossal cruel, / soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, dead / at last. You hate him, you imagine / chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down / or plotting deeper pits to trap him in.”
    • Line 20: “You must not make a plaything of the rain.”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “frustration, your”
    • Line 5: “tears, splashing”
    • Line 8: “you, that”
    • Line 10: “conclusion, dead”
    • Line 11: “last. You,” “him, you”
    • Line 14: “understand, not”
    • Line 17: “you, curb”
    • Line 18: “fight, anything”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “tight / with”
    • Lines 4-5: “eyes / swimming”
    • Lines 6-7: “hint / of”
    • Lines 10-11: “dead / at”
    • Lines 11-12: “imagine / chopping”
    • Lines 17-18: “sadness / with”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-5: “your laughter metamorphosed into howls, / your frame so recently relaxed now tight / with three-year-old frustration, your bright eyes / swimming tears”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Line 10: “soon victim of the tale’s conclusion”
    • Lines 14-15: “You cannot understand, not yet, / the hurt your easy tears can scald him with,”

• “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
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “contorting”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Little Boy Crying”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Little Boy Crying” Speaker

• “Little Boy Crying” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Little Boy Crying”

• 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.

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