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The Ball Poem Notes

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23 views

The Ball Poem Notes

Uploaded by

professionalaadi01
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Rhyme scheme

 There is no rhyme scheme since the poem has been written in free verse.

Symbolism

 The loss of the ball is symbolic of the loss of the boy’s innocence.

 It is also symbolic of the boy gaining knowledge on how to experience loss and survive.

 It is also symbolic of the boy becoming a man.

Metaphor

 The line ‘All his young days into the harbour where His ball went’ is an example of
metaphor.

 The poet uses this metaphor to draw a comparison between the lost ball and the loss of
the boy’s childhood.

Alliteration

 In the poem, the phrases ‘what, what’ and ‘buys a ball back’ are examples of alliteration.

 The poet stresses on the repetition of certain sounds in words to enhance the flow of
the poem.

Repetition

 Berryman repeats the word ‘ball’ at various points of the poem.

 He uses the word on surface to describe the loss of the ball. He also uses it as a
symbol for the loss of childhood innocence.

 The phrase ‘how to stand up’ is repeated to explain the importance of overcoming grief
in the poem.

Transferred Epithet

 The phrase ‘desperate eyes’ is an example of transferred epithet. It tells us that the boy
himself is sad, and not merely his eyes.

 The poet uses this figure of speech to convey how the emotions on the little boy’s face
are reflected in his eyes.

Anaphora

 Use of two words in two or more lines (what is the boy …………… what, what)
Extra Quest:

1) What does John Berryman want to convey through this poem?

Answer: Poet, John Berryman wants to convey the importance of loss and responsibility in life.
We all should learn our responsibility and how to cope up with the loss.

2) "Money is external". What does the poet mean by this expression?

Answer: The poet makes the boy understand about his responsibility as the loss is immaterial.
Money is external as it cannot buy memories, nor can it replace the things that we love, the
things that really matter.

3) Why does the poet think that it is useless to give the following suggestion to the boy? 'No
use to say- 'O there are other balls':

Answer: According to the poet, it is useless to console the boy by saying that he can get
another ball in place of the lost one. The boy had a long association with the ball. It was, thus,
useless to give him such a suggestion because he wanted to get back the ball that he had lost.

4) Why did the poet not offer the boy money to buy another ball?

Answer: The poet watched the boy who had plunged in grief at the loss of his ball. He did not
offer the boy money to buy another ball. He felt that another ball could not console the boy. It
seemed that the boy had the ball for a long time. The poet also wanted the boy to realise the
epistemology of loss.

5) Explain how, “Out of sight, out of mind” might apply to the boy, towards the end of the poem.

Ans. Towards the end of the poem, the boy saw his ball going ‘out of his sight’. With that, he
recalled the time that he spent with the ball in his past childhood days. However, the ball is no
more with the boy and slowly, it will get ‘out of his mind’ too.

6) A popular quote states: Responsibility is self-taught. How does the poem address this
thought?

Ans. The responsibility referred in the poem is how to stand up or bear the loss through self-
understanding and trying to console oneself on his own as the boy who lost his ball was trying
to do.

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