Ball Poem 2

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The Ball Poem
By
John Berryman
John Berryman(1914-1972)
He was an American poet and scholar, born in
McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in
American poetry in the second half of the 20th
century and is considered a key figure in the
Confessional school of poetry. His best-known
work is The Dream Songs.
Analysis of the full poem
themes + title + poetic

devices+important questions &
answers.
Doubts + Menti
Themes of the Poem
1. Loss of innocence:
● For the little boy in this poem, his ball is the first thing he
has ever held dear.
● However, he has never even considered the possibility that
he might one day lose his ball.
● It is only when that happens that he realizes that it was his
responsibility to keep the ball safe and that he has failed.
● The boy quickly realizes that everything he will ever own
will be his responsibility.
● He also realizes that things will get lost from time to time
and money simply cannot replace them all.
● As he is learning these lessons, he is growing up.
● He will never again be as innocent he was before the loss
of his ball.
● He will never be naive enough to not feel the pressure of
his responsibilities. This is a very painful thing for the poet
to watch.
2. Loss of a loved one:
● This poem has a surface meaning as well as a deeper
meaning.
● If we read between the lines, we will see that the ball
symbolizes our family or friends whom we love, and the
loss of the ball symbolizes their death.
● As we grow older, we will become more and more
accustomed to seeing our loved ones die.
● We will learn how to deal with such a loss and to move on
from it as well.
● Death may grieve us or cause us to feel depressed, but
sooner or later we must overcome those feelings and start
living our normal lives again.
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball. Rhyme scheme:
What, what is he to do? I saw it go The poet does not follow any identifiable rhyme scheme in this
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then poem.
Merrily over—there it is in the water!
No use to say 'O there are other balls':
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down Metaphor:
All his young days into the harbour where This rhetorical device is used when a covert comparison is made
His ball went. I would not intrude on him, between two different things or ideas. In this poem, the poet uses
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now the device of metaphor in the 8th line when he compares the boy’s
He senses first responsibility young days or his childhood with the lost ball.
In a world of possessions. People will take balls,
Balls will be lost always, little boy, Apostrophe:
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external. This rhetorical device is used when a poet addresses his or her poem to
He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes, an absent audience. In this poem, the poet uses the device of an
The epistemology of loss, how to stand up apostrophe in the 13th line as he directly speaks to the little boy and tells
Knowing what every man must one day know him that balls are always liable to get lost, but we never see the boy
And most know many days, how to stand up responding to him.
And gradually light returns to the street,
A whistle blows, the ball is out of sight. Transferred epithet:
Soon part of me will explore the deep and dark This rhetorical device is used when an emotion is attributed to a non-living thing
Floor of the harbour . . I am everywhere, after being displaced from a person, most often the poet himself or herself. In this
I suffer and move, my mind and my heart move poem, the poet uses the device of transferred epithet in the 15th line when he writes
With all that move me, under the water the phrase “desperate eyes”. It is not that the eyes of the boy are sad, but that the
Or whistling, I am not a little boy. boy itself is sad and that his eyes are expressing that emotion on his face.
Message of the Poem
● The message of the poem The Ball Poem is
that we get things in our life which become a
part of our lives. We feel that they will always
remain with us. Thus we form an attachment
with them. However a day comes when the
thing is no more with us.
● At such a situation, we feel depressed and
hopeless. According to the poet, losing our
possessions is a harsh reality of our life on
earth. We cannot get away from it. Hence we
have to face such a situation and then try to
move on.
Important Questions & Answers
1. 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.
2. 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.
● 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.
3. Should the boy be allowed to grieve for his
ball? If his loss is irreparable or irretrievable
then how should one handle it? What lessons
can be learnt?
● Yes, the boy should be allowed to grieve for his
ball, as he had that ball for a long time.
● He had many old memories associated with it
since his childhood.
● Moreover, when a person is trying to come over
his grief on his own, then one should not
intrude or disturb him as it may break his chain
of thoughts and may irritate him.
● One should have self-consolation, and self
-understanding in order to bear the loss.
● Self-realization and understanding are more
effective and lasting than when it is done by an
external agency or a person.
4. 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.
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The Problems which you Face!

The Problems which you Face!

Tests & Assignments?

Tests & Assignments?

Tests & Assignments?

Tests & Assignments?

Tests & Assignments!

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themes + title + poetic

1. Why does the poet say, 'I would not intrude

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