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,

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

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,

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.

Summary

The poem speaks about the interaction between a father and his son. The son is punished for playing in the rain. The little boy feels that his father has betrayed him. So, he sees him as evil figure. He compares his father 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. The poet introduces the perspective of the father in the third stanza and shows that he really cares about his son. Nonetheless, the child gives the impression that the father is cruel and callous. One could say that this is gross emotional exaggeration that stems from the fact that his father only wants to protect his child. The father cares for his son and he feels guilt and remorse when he sees his son crying. The father faces a serious dilemma because he is unhappy because his son feels this way and yet, he must teach him this lesson. He wants to comfort him and show his care; but he knows that he has to maintain his composure so that his son learns the lesson.

Themes:

Parenting,

Vulnerability and

Childhood experiences.

Mood

Tense.

Analysis

“Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt,”

The little boy starts to cry as his mouth contorts. Here, the emotional and physical pain is clear even though it is an effort to deliberately make his father feel sad.

“your laughter metamorphosed into howls,”

The poet uses contrast as the child’s laughter transforms completely into howls of pain and hurt.

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

The poet shows the contrast between his earlier temperament and the emotional frame. The little boy’s frame is tight with ‘three-year-old frustration.’ This is ironic seeing that a child who is as young as the little boy should not be this frustrated.

“your bright eyes swimming tears, splashing your bare feet,”

The poet exaggerates the tears of the little boy. The hyperbole that is used suggests that the child’s eyes are completely submerged in tears, and this spills over and splashes their feet.

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

The boy searches for any sign of remorse, empathy or guilt in this unnamed person who has hit him. The alliteration “slap struck” coupled with “quick” gives the speed or sharpness 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 comparing the evil of this unnamed person the best way he can. He alludes to fairly-tales and mystical fictional evils. In addition, he uses the metaphor when he refers to his father as an ogre who is towering over him. The poet also uses alliteration as the boy calls this person a ‘grim giant’ who is cold and unfeeling: ‘colossal cruel.’ The little boy is angry and hurt and it is through his tears and frustration that he sees his father as an abusive giant. He alludes to the giant in the “Jack and the Beanstalk” (that grim giant) and hopes that his father would end up like the giant in the story – 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 as he exaggerates the moments of pain, anger, and frustration. The boy hates the man and imagines that he is chopping down the tree to defeat the man. These ideas coincide with 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 addresses the views of the father. The child does not understand yet what happens beyond the unwavering exterior of his father. He does not know that his tears hurt him, and that he does truly feel remorse for hurting his son. The boy cries endlessly and without difficulty, but he does not know that his father feels these tears and they ‘scald him’ like acid or hot oil.

“nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask.”

The boy does not understand many things, and this includes the conflict within his father that is hidden by a steadfast disguise. He does not want to hurt his son, but he

cannot show the hesitation that he is feeling.

“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 as he juxtaposes the description of this man as ‘fierce’ with the description of this man as a defenseless, loving, empathetic one who wants to curb the sadness that the boy feels. The father sees his son crying, and his natural reaction is to feel the need to comfort him. But the father cannot offer this comfort 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.

Literary Techniques

Personification

“Your bright eyes/ swimming with tears”

Alliteration

“Colossal cruel” chopping clean”

 Assonance

 “The ogre towers above you…”

Contrast

This is used to show the changes in the body of the little boy before and after his father slaps him. His happy laughter turns to howling.

Allusion

The allusion is made to Jack and the Beanstalk.

Metaphor

– The persona refers to the father as an ogre and a ‘grim giant’.

– Easy tears can scald him with,

Irony

The little boy believes that his father has no feelings, but the readers realize that this is not so as the father struggles with his emotions and the pain that comes as he disciplines his son.

Symbolism

Rain

Imagery

Visual and auditory

Themes:

Childhood experiences,

Love and family relationships,

Power and Powerlessness

Parenting

Tone:

Angry,

Resentful,

Resolute/unyielding