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THE BALL POEM
SUMMARY OF THE POEM
The poem is about a young boy who loses his ball. Usually, losing a ball should not be a big issue. Young boys usually
lose their toys and balls quite often. The ball is seen `merrily’ bouncing down the street. And ultimately the ball falls
down into the water and lost forever. The boy stood there sadly watching the ball go. But he was helpless. Nor could
he do anything to get the ball back. The ball here symbolises the innocent childhood of the boy which has slipped
away and he wants it back.

It is of no use to remind him that it was not a big loss. He can get more balls and continue his game. But for the boy,
the loss of the ball is a great loss. There may be other balls and perhaps he can hope to get any one of them.
However, the ball that he has lost can’t be retrieved. It has fallen into the deep water of the harbour. The boy is
inconsolable. He loses hope in himself and becomes depressed and hopeless. He stands still, trembling and looking
at the point where his ball has gone down into the harbour. Here, the lost ball stands for the lost childhood and the
harbour stands for the vastness of life. It will not serve any purpose to remind him that the ball costs just a dime and
is worth nothing.

But there comes a change in his mood and thinking. He realises that in this world the loss is the part of the game. He
must take such losses in life in his stride. Achievements will follow losses in life. And a thing that is lost once can’t be
retrieved or brought back. Money can’t buy the lost childhood, the lost dreams and the lost feelings back. Money is
external to such losses.

The poet gives a message of hope and encouragement. Ultimately, he comes out of his depression and hopelessness.
He has to learn how he should stand up to bear the loss. The theme of the poem is that life is precious and should
not be wasted. Life has to be lived. And life can be lived purposefully and fruitfully only when we stand up and come
out of depression.

QUESTION - ANSWERS
1. A ball is an easily available, inexpensive thing. Then, why is the boy so sad to lose it?

It is true that a ball is an easily available and inexpensive item but the ball, the boy has lost is valuable for
him. His memories of young days are associated with it for he had been playing with it for a long time. It was
not an ordinary but special a ball for him. No other ball could take its place. So, he is sad to lose it.

2. What is the boy learning from the loss of the ball? Why does the poet not offer to buy the boy another
ball?

The boy is learning the nature of loss in this materialistic world. He has learnt that loss is part and parcel of
human life.

The poet does not offer to buy the boy another ball because the new ball would not console him. The reason
is that he had a great attachment to the lost ball.

3. How can the boy stand up again? What everyman must know one day?

The boy has to understand the epistemology of loss — the knowledge and nature of the loss. This is not the
problem of the boy alone. Everyone has to know it sooner or later that it is useless to weep over the loss of
our dearest childhood days. One should move ahead forgetting all such losses. Life has to be lived only by
moving ahead in it.
 4. What is the general rule of this `world of possessions’? Why is money `external’?

Getting and losing is a natural cycle. Many more boys before him bought and lost their balls. This process will
go on forever. However, no amount of money can buy back the same ball that has been lost forever. Money
is external and has its own limitation. Wealth can’t compensate such emotional losses such as the loss of
one’s childhood days.

5. Why doesn’t the poet want to intrude on ‘him’? What does he consider the safest course?

The poet doesn’t want to intrude on the inconsolable boy. There is no gain in telling him that the ball he has
lost costs almost nothing. He can buy a new ball easily in a dime. Instead of sermonising, the poet leaves it
on the boy to develop a new sense of responsibility. It will help him in bearing the loss.

6. Why does the poet say: ‘No use to say ‘O there are other balls’?

The loss of the ball looks like an ordinary incident. It seems that the boy should not make such a fuss over it.
Boys usually lose such balls and again buy new ones as they are not very costly. But the boy seems to be
inconsolable over the loss. No money can buy the same ball that he has lost forever. Similarly, no wealth can
buy back the childhood that he has lost forever.

7. Does the lost ball stand for the metaphor of the boy’s lost childhood? How?

The boy has lost his ball. It has fallen down into the harbour. It will not be found back again. However,
through the metaphor of the lost ball, the poet wants to highlight a bigger loss. It is the loss of his childhood.
Like the lost ball, the childhood days which he cherishes still now, have been lost forever. This makes the loss
inconsolable.

8. How did the boy react after his ball fell into the water of the harbour?

The falling of the ball in the water was quite sudden. Actually, it was an unexpected loss. The boy was
completely shaken but couldn’t even move a step. He stood there fixed to the ground like a statue. He
constantly continued staring at the point where his ball fell into the harbour. It seemed as if he was thinking
of his childhood days which had disappeared forever like the lost ball.

9. Why does the poet say, “Balls will be lost always”?

The balls are the symbol of man’s possessions. Some things are dearer to us than the others. But nothing is
permanent in life. We may lose our dear things. Then we suffer from a sense of loss. This is experienced by
everyone in life. That is why, the poet says, “Balls will be lost always”.

LONG QUESTION-ANSWERS
1. What is the epistemology of loss in this world of possessions? How has the child learned to stand up in
life?

Gain and loss are the two sides of the same coin. Getting, spending and losing things form a natural cycle of
life. The boy is inconsolable at the loss of his ball. Actually, it is not the ordinary ball but his long association
and attachment with it that makes the loss so unbearable. It is like the good sweet days of childhood that
the boy cherishes so much but are lost and gone forever. They will never come back again. So, what is the
remedy? He can bear this loss by understanding the epistemology or nature of the loss. In this world of
material wealth and possessions, it seems that money can buy anything. However, it is a false conception.
Money has its own limitations. Its nature is external. It cannot compensate for the losses that a person
suffers emotionally or internally. No wealth can buy back the ball that has been lost forever. Similarly, no
wealth can buy back the lost childhood. The child will have to move ahead and stand up in life. He has to
stop weeping over his past losses and start living life as it should be lived.
2. How is the lost ball, the metaphor of the lost childhood of the boy? Why doesn’t the poet want to ‘intrude
on’ the boy by offering him money to buy another ball?

The boy has a ball. Perhaps he has been keeping it for a long time. He must have developed a lot of
attachment and love with the ball. Suddenly while he is playing, the ball bounces down the street. And after
a few bounces, it falls down into the harbour. It is lost forever. The boy stands there shocked and fixed to the
ground. He constantly goes on staring at the spot where his ball fell down into the water. Outwardly, the loss
seems to be quite small. The boy seems to be making a fuss over the loss. Many boys have lost such balls
and will lose so in future. A new ball can be easily bought in a dime. The metaphor of the lost ball is
beautifully linked to the loss of sweet childhood. No amount of money can buy the ball back that has been
lost forever. Similarly, no worldly wealth can buy back the lost childhood. The poet doesn’t want to
sermonise on this issue. The boy himself has to learn epistemology or the nature of the loss. He has to move
ahead in life forgetting all the losses he has suffered in the past.

3. Why does the poet say, ‘I would not intrude on him?’ Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another
ball?

When a person is trying to come over his grief on his own, he is busy making himself understand certain
things if then, someone intrudes or disturbs, and his chain of thoughts is broken. It makes him irritated.
Moreover, self-consolation, realization or understanding is more effective and lasting than when it is done
by an external agency or a person. The poet knows it. So he does not intrude on him.

His offer of money to buy another ball is useless for the boy wants the same ball he is attached to and has
been playing for a long time. No other ball will be able to take its place.