Katherine Mansfield’s “The Black Monkey” is a father’s loving, half-playful account of his little girl Babbles having a tantrum. He pictures her misbehavior as a big black monkey swinging from her clothes, making her stamp, cry, and throw her toys. Exasperated, her mother sends her to bed without a kiss or candlelight, and soon Babbles runs back, swearing she is good again. The father feels tender and a little helpless—amused by the “monkey” but also aware that his daughter’s mood is wild and beyond her control. The poem’s mood is warm and light, with a small shadow of real childhood turmoil underneath. By the end, the monkey seems less like a monster and more like a strange dream, softened by the child’s return and a gentle joke about what she ate.
The Black Monkey — Summary
My Babbles has a nasty knack Of keeping monkeys on her back. A great big black one comes and swings Right on her sash or pinny strings. It is a horrid thing and wild And makes her such a naughty child.
She comes and stands beside my chair With almost an offended air And says:--“Oh, Father, why can’t I?” And stamps her foot and starts to cry-- I look at Mother in dismay ... What little girl is this, to-day?
She throws about her nicest toys And makes a truly dreadful noise Till Mother rises from her place With quite a Sunday churchy face And Babbles silently is led Into the dark and her own bed.
Never a kiss or one Goodnight, Never a glimpse of candle light. Oh, how the monkey simply flies! Oh, how poor Babbles calls and cries, Runs from the room with might and main, “Father dear, I am good again.”
When she is sitting on my knee Snuggled quite close and kissing me, Babbles and I, we think the same-- Why, that the monkey never came Only a terrible dream maybe ... What did she have for evening tea?