Sleeping Black Boy 1

SLEEPING
BLACK BOY
M O N G A N E WA L LY S E R O T E
THE POET
• Mogane Wally Serote is a South African poet
and writer. He became involved in politics and
resisting the apartheid government by joining
the African National Congress (ANC). In 1969
he was arrested and detained for several
months without a trial. He often writes poems
in which he features the plight/desperation of
black people. He is known for his graphic
descriptions, which seek to reveal harsh truth.
He has firsthand perspective regarding the
unfairness of the apartheid regime.
(Wikipedia)
He lay flat
Face deep into the green grass
The huge jacket covered his head, the heat onto his ears
He is dirty
The dirt screams from his flesh like a rotten smell
He is pinned down by the throbbing footsteps passing by

His lullaby is the hiss of the water from the pond and the
Roaring steel river;
And the eyes passing by
Dart around like bubbles of boiling water –
This small boy will die one day

His lips stuck together by the glue he smokes.
The huge jacket covered
Face deep into the green
He lay flat his head, the heat onto
grass
his ears
These lines set the scene: • He is likely troubled – • There is a contrast

a simple image that trying to shut out the between the freedom
suggests vulnerability. world by burying his suggested by “green
face. grass” and the
• Why is he asleep? Was discomfort and
he drunk, high or tired? suffocation of the
• He does not seem to jacket that covers his
care that he is sleeping head and forces “the
in a public place, in the heat onto his ears” –
middle of the day. this creates a sense of
oppression.
• The jacket is “huge” –
probably given to him
by a shelter?
The dirt screams from He is pinned down by the
He is dirty his flesh like a rotten throbbing footsteps
• He does not have the smell passing by
luxury of washing, and • Personification: he is so • Personification of the
probably lives on the dirty it is as if the dirt footsteps conveys the
streets. screams from his skin. It pressure and impact of
• Suggests neglect, harsh also signifies a cry for the indifferent world
living conditions. help. around him.
• This boy survives hunger • A simile is used – the dirt • Perhaps his head is
and pain by sniffing glue is like something putrid throbbing too?
– he is addicted to it. and rotten. • He is trapped in a cycle
• Use of both sight and of abuse, and the world
smell – creates imagery doesn’t care.
we cannot avoid. The
smell is overpowering.
His lullaby is the hiss of and the roaring steel And the eyes passing by
the water from the pond river; dart around
• A lullaby is usually • Another auditory image • People are aware of this

comforting – here this – ‘roaring’ suggests boy but choose to
is inverted! (irony) great power and ignore him – their eyes
• What do you associate control. pass by instead of
with ‘hiss’? This • What do you associate paying attention to him.
conveys a sense of with ‘roaring’? There is • ‘dart around’ – this
danger, that something a sense of chaos and suggests nervous or
is wrong. once again, danger. avoidant behaviour –
• Is the sound of water • Consider the idea of are people nervous of
usually comforting? steel: cold, hard, the boy, or because they
Why is it not so here? lifeless. know they should do
• Note the onomatopoeia • This line refers to the something? (social
of ‘hiss’ noise of the traffic. neglect)
How do you think we should respond
to this poem?
It paints a damning picture of how we

as a society are so often both
indifferent and apathetic to the fate of
those less fortunate than ourselves.
The boy in the poem is just one of so

many who need help.
Think about how you might be able to

make a difference to children like
him.
Like bubbles of boiling This small boy will die His lips stuck together
water one day by the glue he smokes
• This describes the eyes • This is a statement of • A shocking image of

darting around, using a fact. The speaker is how the speaker
simile. Eyes are moving certain. believes he will die.
very fast, all over the • It seems to be a • His lifestyle will have a
place.
• What might be prediction that the boy terrible consequence –
will die as a boy. it will lead to his
suggested by the idea of • He is “small” – premature death.
boiling water? Think
emphasizing again his • Consider why the boy
about the connotations
of ‘hot water’. innocence and ‘smokes glue’ – taking
vulnerability. into account the whole
poem.
QQUUEESSTTIIOONNSS
1. Where does the poem take place? Examine the following lines for evidence: 1, 2, 6, 7, 8.
2. What do you think is the effect of the alliteration in lines 2 and 10?
3. Explain the irony of the word “lullaby” in line 7.
4. Explain how the metaphor in line 8 is successful.
5. Discuss the impact of the onomatopoeia in lines 7 and 8.
6. How would you describe the tone of the poem? Explain your answer, quoting diction that supports it.
7. Why do you think Serote wrote this poem? What is his message?

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SLEEPING

He is pinned down by the throbbing footsteps passing by

This small boy will die one day

These lines set the scene: • He is likely troubled – • There is a contrast

• A lullaby is usually • Another auditory image • People are aware of this

It paints a damning picture of how we

The boy in the poem is just one of so

Think about how you might be able to

• This describes the eyes • This is a statement of • A shocking image of

3. Explain the irony of the word “lullaby” in line 7.

4. Explain how the metaphor in line 8 is successful.

5. Discuss the impact of the onomatopoeia in lines 7 and 8.

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