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DREAMING BLACK BOY
James Berry, OBE, Hon FRSL (28 September 1924 – 20 June 2017), was a Jamaican poet who settled in England in the 1940s. He was the son of Robert Berry, a smallholder, and his wife Maud, a seamstress, James Berry was born and grew up in rural Portland, Jamaica. He began writing stories and poems while still at school. (more)
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Shoe shining (lick boots)
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Crisscross way of the globe
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Ku Klux Klan
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Slaves - woodchopping ancestors
Paul Robeson
​LITERAL MEANING
The poem is about a black boy who wishes that he could have regular things in life. Things such as (www.bulbsoup.com) a congratulatory hug, being educated to the highest level, and traveling without harassment. The persona yearns to stop fighting for the basic right to be successful and to rise above societal expectations.
        1. I wish my teacher's eyes wouldn't
        go past me today. Wish he'd know
        it's okay to hug me when I kick
        a goal.1.Wish I myself wouldn't
    5  hold back when an answer comes.
        2. I'm no woodchopper now
        like all ancestor's.

        1. I wish I could be educated
        to the best of tune up, and earn
   10 good money and 3. not sink to lick 
        boots.1. I wish I could go on every 
        crisscross way of the globe
        and no persons or powers or
        hotel keepers would make it a waste.

   15 1. I wish life wouldn't spend me out
        opposing.1.Wish same way creation
        would have me stand it would have me stretch, and hold high, 2. my     
        voice 
        Paul Robeson's, 3. my inside eye
   20 a sun. Nobody wants to say
        hello to nasty answers.

        1. I wish 2. torch throwers of night
        would burn lights for decent times.
        1. Wish 2. plotters in pyjamas would pray
   25 for themselves. Wish people wouldn't 
        talk as if I dropped from Mars  

        1. I wish only boys were scared
        behind bravados, for I could suffer.
        I could suffer a big big lot.
  30 1. I wish nobody would want to earn
        the terrible burden I can suffer.

Poet: James Berry
LITERARY DEVICES 
1. REPETITION 
  • Stanza 1, lines 1, 4/ Stanza 2, lines 8, 11/ Stanza 3, lines 15, 16/ Stanza 4, lines 22, 24/ Stanza 5, 26, 30: The constant repetition of the phrase 'I wish' points to a yearning, a desperation even, for the basic things that life has to offer. The repetition (www.bulbsoup.com) gives credence to the idea that the persona might believe that his wishes are actually dreams that might not come true.
2. ALLUSION
  • Stanza 1, lines 6-7: This phrase alludes to slavery, the state of lacking control over one's own life and destiny. The fact that reference is made to this (www.bulbsoup.com) hints at how the persona feels about his life. He does not feel as if he has control over it.
  • Stanza 3, lines 19 to 20: This alludes to Paul Robeson, a black intellectual, who attained success despite difficult circumstances. The persona yearns to be like this person. He wants room to stretch intellectually. 
  • Stanza 4, lines 22 to 25: This phrase alludes to the Klu Klux Klan. Burning lights refer to the burning of crosses and the pyjamas allude to their white outfits that look (www.bulbsoup.com) like pyjamas. The persona wants them to leave him alone, and find something else to do other than make his life difficult by contributing to his wishes remaining in the realm of the dreams. 
3. METAPHOR
  • Stanza 2, line 19: The inside eye refers to the persona's mind. He (www.bulbsoup.com) wants to show how intelligent he is without fear. He wants his mind to be a sun. Sun represents brightness and light, that is how he wants his intelligence to shine. 
IMPORTANT WORDS / PHRASE
3. 'not sink to lick boots' (Stanza 2, lines 10-11)
This refers to the concept of being subservient.  To have no choice but to kowtow to people in order to get ahead.
THEMATIC CATEGORY: Discrimination, Desire, Loss of Innocence, Childhood Experience
ATMOSPHERE
The tone/mood of the poem is one of sadness. The persona is thinking about how he is treated and he reacts to this in a sad way. He keeps wishing that things were different.
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​​Contributor: Leisa Samuels‐Thomas
Berry. J 'Dreaming Black Boy' in A World of Poetry. Edited by Mark McWatt and Hazel Simmond-McDonald. Pearson Education Ltd, 2005.


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