"Little boy crying" by Mervyn Morris

Essay by 7aftya October 2007

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Every parent raise their children in different ways, but they all seek for the same goal. All parents want a better life for their children. However children don't understand it when they're being punished, nor understand the mistake they did. "Little boy crying" is a poem written by Mervyn Morris, which talks about a parent who punishes his child for playing in the rain by slapping him. The boy naturally gets angry and innocently confused, he doesn't understand the anger of his father or the mistake he did to cause it. This punishment drives anger and hate-ness of the child towards his father.

In the first stanza, the poet describes the feeling of the boy, and the innocence of children. " Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt, your laughter metamorphosed to howls". The mood of the baby metamorphoses from a happy laugh of a baby to howls of sadness.

The poet emphasis the boy and describes his "three year old frustration". The boy is standing confused wondering what he did wrong, 'angling for a moment's hint of guilt or sorrow', and not understanding what caused 'the quick slap struck'.

'The ogre tower' thought the boy of his father, 'that grim giant empty of feeling, a colossal cruel'. The child personifies his father with an ogre, frightening, tower. This feeling of children is completely natural and all children feel the same way when they're punished. The boy starts thinking of revenge, and imagining the death of his father for his cruelty, like in a story tale's conclusion. The boy imagines 'plotting deep trips' to trap his father in and get rid of the grim giant, empty of feeling man that had just hurt his feelings.

So far the poet has just talked about the feelings of the child...