Little Boy Crying

Each stanza of this piece is dedicated to one particular part of a young child’s experience. The first
describes his general state of being and his initial reaction to being slapped by his father. The second
turns to the father and depicts him through the eyes of the child. He is an“ogre” to him in this moment.

The final six-line stanza is told closer to the father’s perspective and describes how he longs to comfort
his child but must maintain his composure to ensure the lessons he is trying to teach are not lost.

The poem begins with the boy’s emotions and his lack of control over how he acts, and reacts, to things
that happened around him. One moment he is laughing and the next he is crying as his father slaps him.
The reaction from the father is described in the third stanza, but the second is devoted to the boy’s
feelings towards his father.

He sees him as being a monster, an “ogre,” for having hit him. He imagines all the different ways that he
could kill his father, as if he is part of an imaginary world.

The final six lines stanza speaks of the father’s love for his son and how that love has driven him to want
to teach him important lessons. This particular lesson involves not playing in the rain. He wants to reach
out and comfort his son, but restrains himself in an attempt to teach the child not to be foolish.

Stanza One

Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt,

In the first stanza of this piece, the narrator of the poem is able to look into the mind of the child, who is
the main character, and describe the intense emotions he is feeling. He is young, only three, and is
unable to control himself. 

The stanza emphasizes the transition from laughter to sadness, fear, and anger. The first lines describe
the physical appearance of the child as he laughs and how his mouth “contorts” into all sorts of
interesting shapes.

The “laughter” that he was only just enjoying quickly turns to “howls” and his “recently relaxed” body
becomes tight. The poem does not give any further description about what it is the child has done until
the end, but one of his parents, (later revealed to be the father), has slapped him. 

The child’s eyes begin to “swim” with tears. They are so numerous they fall from his face and hit his feet.
His second reaction, after crying, is to pause and hope for some measure of guilt to show itself on his
parent’s face. 

Stanza Two

The ogre towers above you, that grim giant,

empty of feeling, a colossal cruel,

chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down

or plotting deeper pits to trap him in.

The child is going to be disappointed though as the “ogre” who is standing over him at this moment
shows none of the guilt the child is hoping for her. This person, who is later shown to be the father,
seems to be beyond love at this point. He is not a member of the family, he is a “giant,” a monster to be
abhorred.

The child looks like the father and feels that he must be “Empty,” and if he contains anything it is
“colossal cruel[ty].” At this moment the child “hates” his father. There is no room for any other emotion
in his young mind.

The child’s mind works creatively, acting off the image of his father as an ogre. He imagines he can “trap
him” in a pit, or cut down a tree he is “scrambling down.” These imaginations help the child move
through the emotions of sadness and anger.

Stanza Three

You cannot understand, not yet,

In the final set of lines, the speaker turns to the thoughts of the father but describes them as if from a
distance. There is no true emotion in them, only a description of emotion. 

From this new perspective, the reader is able to grasp why it is the father acted in this way. Why a
reader might be wondering, does he not reach down and comfort his child? The speaker knows a reader
will be just as confused as the child is, and makes a point to describe what’s being done. 

First, though, the speaker states that the child’s “tears” have the ability to “scald” the father. Their
presence and the emotions which accompany them, burn the father as if they are acid. He hates that his
child is crying and wants to pick him up. He refrains from doing so, as well as from any other attempts
that might “curb [his] sadness.” This is all in an effort to keep from “ruin[ing] the lessons” the father
believes the child “should learn.”

Stanza Four

You must not make a plaything of the rain.The final line of the poem which makes up its own short
stanza gives the speaker a glimpse into what it was that angered the father. This simple statement, “You
must not make a plaything of the rain,” lets the reader know that the child was probably playing around
outside and lost control. Perhaps he was splashing in puddles or running from his father. 
Stanza 1
The poem begins with a description of a child crying. However, his cries seem harsh and fierce “Your
laughter metamorphosed into howl”.  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 that there are often important behaviour or lessons children
must learnt by children.

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 parent. Unlike Ana, his childhood is not one that
is carefree without any consequences for undesired behaviour.

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.
Summary

The poem is narrating an interaction between a father and his son, who he has punished for playing in
the rain. The little boy feels somewhat betrayed by his father, and finds no sign of remorse in him. So, he
sees him as evil figure, likening him to the evil giant from the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. The
poem accurately shows how the child feels in the moment- a sudden emotion of cold hate and anger
towards this 'colossal cruel' who has harmed him. In the third stanza though, the poet introduces the
perspective of the father, who evidently cares for his son. Through the child's eyes, he is painted in a
light of supreme cruelty and callousness due to emotionally-caused exaggeration. The father is shown to
be caring because he feels guilt and remorse when he sees the tears of his son. But the dilemma within
is obvious- he doesn't enjoy making his son feel this way, but he must teach him this lesson. He wants to
comfort him and show his care; but he knows that he must maintain his composure in order for his son
to truly learn the lesson.

The poem is written from a third person omniscient perspective. The themes are parenting, vulnerability
and childhood experiences. The mood is tense.

Analysis

"Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt,"

This line begins to show the little boy starting to cry. His mouth twists (as shown with 'contorting'),
showing not only his pain (emotional and physical) but also an attempt to spite (deliberately annoy) his
father.

"your laughter metamorphosed into howls,"

Contrast is introduced here, where the laughter of the child (happiness) metamorphoses (an example of
diction by the poet) into howls of pain and hurt. To metamorphose means to change completely in form
or nature- so, in the same way his laughter changes to howls, his happiness changes to despair and pain.

"your frame so recently relaxed now tight with three year old frustration"

The poet continues to show contrast between his previous disposition and now- when his frame has
tightened as he contracts in beginning to cry. His frame tight with 'three year old frustration,' which is
sort of ironic considering that, being 3 years old, he would have very little to be frustrated about, and
the harsher more oppressive concept of frustration clashes with the small non-threatening nature of a 3
year old.

"your bright eyes swimming tears, splashing your bare feet,"

This is an example of hyperbole, where the poet suggests that the child's eyes are 'swimming tears' that
splash his feet. Obviously a human's eyes can't produce enough tears to literally splash upon their feet-
but the poet uses this device to show the exaggerated crying of the child. The phrase 'eyes swimming
tears' suggests that the child's eyes are completely submerged in tears.

"you stand there angling for a moment’s hint of guilt or sorrow for the quick slap struck."

Now the boy searches for any sign of remorse, empathy or guilt in this unnamed person who has hit
him. Alliteration (slap struck) is used along with monosyllabic language ('quick slap struck,' each word is
one syllable to convey the speed of the slap).

"The ogre towers above you, that grim giant, empty of feeling, a colossal cruel, soon victim of the
tale’s conclusion, dead at last."

In this stanza, the little boy is now likening the evil of this unnamed person the best way he can- using
fairly tales and mystical fictional evils. Using a metaphor, he refers to this person as an ogre towering
over him. Using alliteration, the boy calls this person a 'grim giant' who is cold and unfeeling, and a
'colossal cruel.' This is, of course, a caricatured/exaggerated description of this man by a teary-eyed and
hurt child. He is so angered and frustrated in this moment that he compares his abuser to a giant, an
allusion to the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk ('...that grim giant') and hopes for him to eventually end
up just like the giant at the end of the fairy tale- dead.

"You hate him, you imagine chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down or plotting deeper pits to
trap him in."

The boy continues with sentiments exaggerated by momentary pain, frustration and anger. The boy is
said to hate this man, and imagines for him the same defeat as the giant in the tale- chopping down the
stalk he climbs down. These plots correspond to the child's feelings of sadness and anger, he wants to
defeat this person who has harmed him.

"You cannot understand, not yet, the hurt your easy tears can scald him with,"

The speaker now considers the perspective of the father. The child doesn't understand yet what
happens beyond the steely exterior of his father. He doesn't know that his tears really do harm him, and
that he does truly feel remorse for hurting his son. The boy cries endlessly and without restraint or
difficulty, but he doesn't know that his father feels these tears and they 'scald him' like acid or hot oil.

"nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask."

Adding to the list of things the boy doesn't understand, he cannot guess the conflict within his father
that is hidden by an unfaltering facade. He doesn't want to hurt his son, but he cannot show the
hesitation.
"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."

The poet uses contrast again here, juxtaposing the description of this man as 'fierce' with the description
of this man as a vulnerable, loving, empathetic one who wants to curb the boy's sadness. The father
sees his son crying, and his natural reaction is to want to comfort him- but he cannot, in order to ensure
that he learns the lesson.

"You must not make a plaything of the rain."

This final line conveys what was likely the reason for the father punishing the child, he was playing in the
rain.
The Poem:

The setting: the poem narrates the reactions of a child, following a slap. The title tells one that a child,
who is little – therefore at a tender age, is weeping, trying to show how hurt he feels after being slapped
for no good reason. The child is naive and has been fooling around. He does not consider the slap to be
justified, thus wails about, causing his father, who is the culprit, to fall in the pit of guilt. He uses his
tears to emotionally manipulate his father, who ( according to the child )is an offender in this poem.

The child is three years old.

The child does not understand the concept of punishment at this age. For him, a slap is more like hurting
him than teaching a lesson. He,thus, considers his father to be monster, who can hurt him.

Stanza 1 : The poet describes the pain he sees and senses in the child who agonises after being beaten.
The child is crying, his mouth is contorted,  that is the mouth is twisted because of the sudden pain he
experiences.

The deformation of the facial features of the child is accompanied by howls. These are cries of pain.
Hence, the audience witnesses a drastic change in the jovial child of three, who has been beaten.

The poet employs imagery to depict the alterations in the child’s countenance.

 He uses symbols to emphasise on how the suddenness of the slap disfigures the child, changing
his happiness into anger and hatred. Those symbols are,

1. mouth contorting

2. your laughter metamorphosed into howls

3. your frame …tight

4. swimming tears

The child waits for his father to repent; to show regrets; to make amends for how he ill-treats him; he
expects his father to feel bad for having hurt him; and lastly he wants to punish his father. This
sentiment is carried forward in the next stanza.

Stanza II:

In the child’s mind, his father becomes a montrous entity.

The poet sustains the feelings of the child by giving many negative nuances to how the father is
portrayed:

 ogre – terrific monster

 grim (gloomy) giant – has no empathy for others; devoid of emotions

 empty of feeling- ruthless, as he hits a three year old child

 a colossal cruel- embodiment of cruelty/ savagery/ being inhuman

 dead at last- the child wishes to overcome the monster by making him regret his action.
The child feels really hurt/harmed by the slap, as he wishes to punish his father. The poet traces out the
thoughts clearly by revealing the depth of the child’s frustration against his father.

…You hate him…:  this phrase encompasses the anger which the child is going through at that very
moment.

…chopping clean… : use of imagery which evokes the anger felt by the child.

…plotting deeper pits to trap him in…:  reveal how the child is planning revenge. He wants his father to
suffer for having slapped him for no real reason. …plotting  deeper  pits… is alliterative, the device is
used to accentuate on the anger felt by the child.

Stanza III

The child is admonished for being blind to the father’s suffering. The latter realises that his action has
been harsh, and thoroughly regrets having raised his hand on his child. Yet, it is the duty of a father to
correct the insolence of his child.

…the hurt your easy tears can scald him with… :  use of contrast – tears scalding (burning) the father. The
child uses his tears to calm himself down. Yet, for the father, those very tears hurt him in his soul. Use
of emphasis – the poet is using tears as a symbol to depict the pain of the father, along with the hurt
feelings (which are turned into anger) of the child.

…nor guess the  wavering  (trembling) behind the  mask  ( he camouflages his pain beneath a fake show
of severity). Use of contrast to emphasise on the fatherly weakness of the parent, who cannot show his
real self or emotions. If he wants to ascertain a bright future for his child and discipline the latter to
become a better person, he needs to be severe.

This fiece man  …should learn. : he is fulfilling his duty. It is difficult for him. He is allowed to pamper his
child, otherwise the child will lose himself and take life for granted. It is the foremost duty of the
father/parent to be an ethical torchbearer for his child. This responsibility is achieved through many
peaks snd troughs which the father has to bear.

Alliterations: …long to  lift… and piggy-back and  bullfights

…dare not ruin the lessons you should learn…:  the necessity for the father to be severe and fulfill his
responsibility correctly.

You must not make a plaything of the rain.:  the child must consider serious situations or elements to be
petty or what he easily fool around with. This is the lesson which the father is teaching to his child: life
should not be taken for granted. The child must learn to live within the limits. He must not trespass the
boundaries of propriety otherwise he will become immoral.

For instance: the child is making illicit use of his tears to draw guilt from his father. Actually, the poet
does say that the child is angry instead of being hurt.

Themes:

1. Parenting:

o The parent teaching morality and ethics to his child.

o The parent showering love on his child through discipline, which means that he wants
his child to walk on the right path.

2. Manipulation:

o The child inducing feelings of regret and guilt in the father through tears.

o The child hiding his anger and revengeful feelings in his tears and making a show of
vulnerability.

o How the child wants to punish his father but pretends to be hurt.

3. Fakery:

o The child’s apparent innocence.

o The father’s apparent severity.

o The need to guide about life through punishment.

o The father’s fake anger, when he is crumbling underneath solicitude/love for his child.

4. Regret:

o The father regretting his severity but it is needed.

5. Dilemmatic position of parents:

o Parents become villains in the eyes of their children when all they want is to
instruct/guide their offsprings into becoming better humans.

Tone:

The poem starts with the tone of anger mixed with frustration as it depicts the feelings of the child.

However, as the poem unfolds, the tone changes into that of understanding and regret, for the father’s
real feelings are revealed.

The tone in the last stanza demonstrates the extent of sorrow, yet strength felt by the father. He needs
to be steel-hearted to be able to raise his child correctly.