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Little Boy Crying

Mervyn Morris

Mervyn Morris was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1937, and gained fame as Professor of
Creative Writing and Literature at the University of the West Indies. As a schoolboy, he wrote
for fun and satirical reasons. Later, he said, he used poetry more seriously to ask questions
about aspects of his life. He is known for the economy with which he uses his words. This
might be borne in mind when approaching this poem.

A) Warm-up exercise
Why might the little boy be crying.

B) Pre-teaching: vocabulary

WORD DEFINITION
1.CONTORTING A. seeking an objective by devious
ways
2.SPITE B. strike with the flat of the hand
3.METAMORPHOSED C. planning secretly
4.HOWLS D. ill will , malice
5.FRAME E. stern and forbidding appearance
6.ANGLING F. shakiness, faltering
7.HINT G. twisting violently
8.SLAP H. burn
9.TOWERS I. indication, sign
10.GRIM J. cries
11.SCRAMBLING K. changed or transformed
12.PLOTTING L. has strong desires / wishes
13.SCALD M. restrain
14.WAVERING N. body
15.LONGS O. stands high and superior
16.CURB P. struggling

Fill out the answers below :

1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
6) 7) 8) 9) 10)
11) 12) 13) 14) 15)
16)
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C. The Poem
Stanza 1
1. What is the incident and whose perspective do we see it from ?

2. How is the boy described ? Contrast the before and after. Assess how far the boy’s grief is
genuine. Look closely at the words to support your case. (Remember that the emotions of
a small boy do not have to be straightforward .)

3. Identify and comment on the effects of the following:

Technique Example Comment

Pronouns

Alliteration

Hyperbole

Monosyllables

Water Imagery

Onomatopoeia

5. Is there anything else which is interesting about the way the boy is described?
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6. How might the word ‘bright’ have a double meaning?

7. What is the boy trying to do in line 6? ‘angling’

8. Can you make any conclusions about how the adult feels about the boy and the
punishment?

Stanza 2
1. How is the adult perceived and from whose perspective? Comment on this.

2. The adult is described metaphorically. Fill in the table below with words used to describe
the adult.

NOUN VERB ADJECTIVE

3. What kind of word is ‘cruel.’ How is it unexpected?

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4. Consider the way

i) the fairy-tale has been used
ii) the sounds of the words
iii) the way the poet presents the child’s plans for revenge.

5. Identify and comment on:

Techniques Examples Comments

Hyperbole

Alliteration

6. Is there any suggestion of humour in the way the poet has presented the child’s response?

Stanza 3
1. What can’t the child understand?

2. Is there any unhappiness about the loss of rapport between them, however short-lived it
might be?

3. In line 15, who does ‘your’ and ‘him’ refer to?

4. Why are his tears ‘easy’?

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5. Why doesn’t the poet call himself I or me at any time in the poem do you think?

6. Consider the force of the feelings behind the ‘hurt’, ‘easy’, ‘fierce’, ‘longs’, ‘anything’,
‘dare’. What are the poet’s feelings?

Stanza 4
1. Why do you think the last line of the poem stands by itself?

2. Who has ‘you’ referred to in the poem so far? Is this the case here?

3. Why has the child been punished?

4. Do you think it is sometimes necessary to be cruel to be kind?

THEMES LINKS
Relationships between adults and children

Portrayal of children - CHILDHOOD

Fairy tales