Little Boy Crying- Mervyn Morris

Answers

1. It is apparent through the language of the poem that the poet takes us back into his past through his memories.

2. The dominant tone of the poem is of frustration and pain and love.

3. The author uses the word howls after the word laughter to show how quickly the little boys laugh turns into cries like a werewolf calling out to the moon

4. 'Collective responses'

5. The "grim giant" is an example of alliteration and represents the fathers demeanor while standing over the child.

6. The little boy might be crying because he has done something he isn't supposed to do and got licks.

7. The last line implies that the little boy has been playing in the rain, "you must not make a plaything of the rain." This line has several meanings such as the immorality of trying to get sympathy by crying

Word Wizard

1."mouth contorting in brief spite" (line 1) - 'Contorting'~ a word mostly applied to the face, about twisting and change into something bad. “Brief Spite”~ has to do with the duration of this anger. This phrase paints a mental picture of someone that is enraged for a split second looking down with the desire to hurt and having an opaque stare.

2."your laughter metamorphosed into howls" (line 2)- 'Metamorphosed'~ Long word with very changing sounds. Almost describing the change through sound. Also represents change from childhood to adulthood. The word metamorphosed gives life to the way the child's laugh escalated into cries similar to a wolf howling at the full moon. This highlights the unstable emotions of a child and how quickly they switch up when placed in a situation they don't like.

3."The ogre towers above you, that grim giant" (line 8)- The phrase is a metaphor for the boy’s father. It shows how the boy feels towards his father.We see what the child feels of the father’s actions, seeing him as an “ogre” “towering above him”, and referring to the father as “that” “grim giant”. Note the use of the word “that”, this demonstrative pronoun distances the child from the father, as apposed to using “the grim giant” “that” is used. Alliteration is used to give the image menacing figures. The alliteration is used to emphasize the strong feelings the child feels. The harsh “G” sounds give it a bitter tone - full of hate. The phrase is also a reference to “Jack and the Bean Stalk”

Images that came to mind after reading the Poem

-'swimming tears'

-'Little boy crying'

-'wavering hidden

behind a mask'

Allusion to Jack and

the Bean Stalk

-'curb saddness

with piggy-back'

Who Is The Poet?

Mervyn Morris was born in 1937 in Kingston, Jamaica, and studied at the University College of the West Indies (UWI) and as a Rhodes Scholar at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In addition to his poetry, which has ranked him among the top West Indian poets, he was one of the first academics to espouse the importance of nation language in helping to define in verse important aspects of Jamaican culture.Morris remains one of the most resourceful and technically brilliant of Caribbean poets. In 2009, Morris was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit. In 2014, Morris was appointed the Poet Laureate of Jamaica.

Summary

Question/ Discussion Questions

LITTLE BOY CRYING BY- MERVYN MORRIS

Through the use of vivid imagery and figurative language "Little Boy Crying" is based on a father's true story revealing the how he once treated his son. It depicts the themes of sadness, remorse, and love. Morris describes his battle with fighting the regret he feels for slapping his son because he loves him so much, "longs to lift you, curb your sadness." This is perhaps to highlight the contrast between the two emotions and the danger of what happens when they collide. At first, the reader empathizes with the boy, however, as the poem progresses and the father's situation is understood, and the reader begins to empathize for him as well.

1.Do you think this poem is from a glimpse from the past of the poets life?

2. What is the dominant tone of the poem?

3. Why do you think the author used "howls" after using the word "laughter"?

4. How does this poem make you feel after reading it?

5. What does the "Grim Giant" represent?

6. Why might the little boy be crying?

7. How can the last line of the poem be interpreted in two different ways?

Your mouth contorting in brief spite and

Hurt, your laughter metamorphosed into howls,

Your frame so recently relaxed now tight

With three-year-old frustration, your bright eyes

Swimming tears, splashing your bare feet, 5

You stand there angling for a moment’s hint

Of guilt or sorrow for the quick slap struck.

The ogre towers above you, that grim giant,

Empty of feeling, a colossal cruel,

Soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, dead 10

At last. You hate him, you imagine

Chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down

Or plotting deeper pits to trap him in.

You cannot understand, not yet,

The hurt your easy tears can scald him with, 15

Nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask.

This fierce man longs to lift you, curb your sadness

With piggy-back or bull-fight, anything,

But dare not ruin the lessons you should learn.

You must not make a plaything of the rain. 20

Little Boy Crying

By:Mervyn Morris

Teela Dickinson Andre Ivo

Jalani Richardson Tayshun Burgess