The Ball Poem By John Berryman
A boy loses a ball. He is very upset. A ball doesn’t cost much, nor is it difficult to buy another ball. Why then is the boy so upset? Read the poem to see what the poet things has been lost, and what the boy has to learn from the experience of losing something.
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
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, starting down
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him;
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions. People will take
Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy.
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.
He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.
JOHN BERRYMAN
The Ball Poem Summary
Explanation of the Poem
Stanza 1
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over – there it is in the water!
No use to say ‘O there are other balls”:
Explanation
The poem is about a little boy. For the first time in his young life, he is learning what it is like to experience grief at the loss of a much loved possession, that is, his ball. The ball s here symbolic of the sweet memories of his childhood. The boy loses his ball and watches it bouncing down the street into the water. To us, the loss of a ball is of minor consequence but to the little boy, it was a valued possession. The poet here, deters himself saying that there are other balls because the boy wants the same ball. The ball had been with him for a long time and it was linked to the memories of the days when he played with it. The boy’s ball personifies his young days and happy innocence.
Stanza 2
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stand rigid, trembling, staring down
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him;
A dime, another ball, is worthless.
Explanation
When the young boy loses his ball, it bounces away and lands in the harbour. The boy is very much troubles a the loss of his ball and plunges into grief.
He stands stiff and trembling while staring at his ball. He is upset as he looks into the gloomy water because he cannot find the ball. The boy is deeply affected by the loss of his ball because it has been with him for a long time. When the ball bounces into the water all his memories of the childhood days flashes in front of him. This leads to a realisation that those moments would not come back, just like the ball. Further the poet doesn’t offer him money to buy another ball because that would be worthless.
Stanza 3
………………Now
He senses first responsibllity
In a world of possessions. People will take
Ball, ball will be lost always, little boy.
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.
Explanation
The boy is upset when he looks into the gloomy water because he cannot find the ball. This when he gets his first sense of responsibility. The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning what it means to lose something in a world of possessions where he will lose things, will buy some more to replace the ones lost, but would never be able to buy back the thing that he had lost. In this poem, the boy’s ball personifies his young days and happy innocence. The pet, thus, 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 thins that really matter.
Stanza 4
He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
This epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.
Explanation
The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning how to stand up in a world of possessions. The boy is learning what it means to lose something. The poet says that knowing that every man has to stand up after such losses, the boy too will learn how to stand up and leave the losses behind as he would have understood the true meaning and nature of loss.
Central Idea of Poem
The poet, John Berryman in ‘The Ball Poem’ describes the grief of a boy over the loss of his ball. With that loss he senses his first responsibility in a materialistic world; where those whom you love and your worldly possessions will not be with you forever. The poem shows how, all through your life, you will be forced to do things that you don’t want to do and you will lose or have to give up the things, that you love. But despite, this, you have to learn to stand up, to be strong and get on with your life – no matter how much it hurts inside. Because that is the only way you will survive. It thus, teaches us to learn accept and let go and not cling onto something that you can never have.
Poetic Devices Used in the Poem
Blank Verse : The poem is written in unrhymed lambic pentameter.
Consider the following lines from the poem:
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then Merrily over-there
It is in the water!
Symbolism : A figure of speech where an object, person or situation has another meaning other than its literal meaning.
- The ball symbolises the boy’s young and innocent days.
Repetition : Repetition of words/phrases in the same line.
What, what
Balls, balls
Alliteration : Repetition of initial consonant sounds in the same line.
- What, what
- Balls, balls
- buys a ball back
Word Meanings
Merrily : happily
‘O there are other balls’ : the words suggest that the loss is not important enough to worry about
ultimate : final
shaking grief : sadness which greatly affects the boy
rigid : stiff, like a statue
trembling : shivering
harbour : a place where ships load and unload goods
intrude on : (here) to enter a situation where one is not welcome
a dime : ten cents (U.S)
possessions : something that is owned or possessed
external : superficial, extrinsic
desperate : hopeless
epistemology of loss : Understanding the nature of loss – what it means to lose something
epistemology : The Greek word ‘episteme’ means ‘knowledge’ (it comes from a word meaning to understand, to know). Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge itself.
Questions and Answers
NCERT Solutions
Thinking about the Poem (Page 47)
Question 1 : Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?
Answer : The poet says, “I would not intrude on him” because he does not want to intervene in the natural process of learning. He wants the boy to learn the meaning of loss on his own. He also doesn’t offer him money to buy another ball because that would be worthless. He wants the boy to learn the lesson of responsibility and bear with the loss.
Question 2 : “…….starting down
All his young days into the harbour where His ball went….”
Do you think the boy has had the ball for a long time? Is it linked to the memories of days when he played with it?
Answer : Yes, the boy has had the ball for a long time. When it bounced into the water, all his memories of the days of childhood flashed in front of him. This led to a realisation that those moments would not come back, just like the ball. He can buy new balls and can similarly create new moments, but those that are gone would not return.
Question 3 : What does “in the world of possessions” mean?
Answer : “In thew world of possessions” means that the world is full of materialistic things. Here everything and every action is made to possess something, whether it is the possession of land, property, money, or any other thing. The poet suggests that losing a ball, which is a very small thing, would make the boy understand what it is like to lose something that one possessed.
Question 4 : Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.
Answer : No, it seems that the boy had not lost anything earlier. The words that suggest so are ‘He senses first responsibility in a world of possessions’.
Question 5 : What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.
Answer : The poet says that the boy is learning to cope up with the loss of the ball. He is experiencing grief and learning to grow up in this world of possessions. He learns that there are so many things in life that are lost and cannot be brought back. He is sensing his first responsibility as he has lost the ball. The boy will learn how to sand up and leave the losses behind as he would have understood the true meaning and nature of loss.
Extra Questions
Extract Based Questions
Read the following extracts carefully and choose the correct option.
Question 1 :
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over – there it is in the water!
No use to say – ‘O there are other balls’:
i) The expression ‘what , what is he to do’?
denotes……….
a) loss of ball
b) further action of boy
c) boy’s grief over loss of ball
d) feels happy
ii) Where did the ball go?
a) Across the street
b) Into water
c) In a drain
d) Far off in a jungle
iii) Which word is synonym of ‘happily’?
a) Friendly
b) hopefully
c) Merrily
d) Sadly
iv) What does the expression – “no use to day -‘O there are other balls’ mean”?
a) It is a big loss
b) Insignificant loss
c) Will buy new ball
d) Loss is of major consequence
Answer : i) c) boy’s grief over loss ball
ii) b) Into water
iii) c) Merrily
iv) d )Loss is of major consequence
Question 2 :
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stand rigid, trembling, staring down
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him,
A dime, another ball, is worthless.
i) Which adjective in these lines express the effect of this loss on the boy?
a) Rigid
b) Trembling
c) Staring
d) Crying
ii) Explain the expression ‘shaping grief’.
a) trembling in grief
b) crying in grief
c) feeling unhappy and very sad
d) not able to move
iii) Which word in these lines is synonym of ‘Interfere’?
a) Disturb
b) Intrude
c) Rigid
d) Dime
iv) Why is money or another ball worthless for the boy?
a) He does not want to play
b) He is very sad
c) Sense of loss as same ball can not be found
d) Can not afford another ball
Answer : i) a) Rigid
ii) c) Feeling unhappy and very sad
iii) b) Intrude
iv) c) Sense of loss as same can not be found
Short Questions and Answers
Question 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 lean out responsibility and how to cope up with the loss. The poet also wants us learn that things will get lost from time to time and money simply cannot replace them all.
Question 2 : How does the boy feel at the loss of his ball?
Answer : The boy is very much troubled at the loss of his ball. He experiences grief at the loss of his much loved possession. Like a statue, he keeps staring at the ball with this desperate eyes. He finds it difficult to cope up with the loss.
Question 3 : Write the sum and substance of the poem “The Ball Poem”.
Answer : In “The Ball Poem”, Berryman tells us how our childhood can quickly fly by, as quickly as a ball is lost and how we sometimes unsuspectingly must grow up and face hardships, like loss.
Question 4 : “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. Not every loss can be replaced by money. Money is external as it cannot buy memories, nor can it replace the things that we love, the things that really matter.
Long Questions and Answers
Question 1 : Why is it important for everyone to experience loss and to stand up after it?
Answer : It is important for everyone to experience loss and to stand up after it in order to be strong and to get on with life. One needs to stay strong no matter how much it hurts inside. Staying strong is the only way to survive. Moreover, one needs to learn to accept and let go and not cling to something that they can never have. One should understand that the past is gone and it will never come back. Experiencing loss sometimes helps us to grow up and face hardships, like loss. This helps us in breaking all the boundaries into freedom. The poem teaches us a philosophy of life through the loss of ball. i.e. “Loss is a universal truth in our life.” We have to lose something at one point of time. Through the loss of ball, the boy learns real knowledge of the world. If he is able to bear the loss, he will be able to face the difficulties of life courageously. The boy must know, how to stand up after a loss. This is very essential for every human being to be able to move on or standing up after a person has fallen or being knocked down. Here ball signifies losing something valuable that can not be bought or replaced. The poet wants us to understand that loss is inevitable and everyone must learn to cope up with the loss with patience and courage.
Question 2 : Money, though is very important in our life, but it can not replace everything. Explain.
Answer : Money is very important in everyone’s life but the poem teaches us one thing more. Money is external because it can not buy everything that one loses. The poem can be interpreted both literally and metaphorically. Literally, it is a picture of little boy growing up and learning to deal with his first loss. Metaphorically it is the story of mankind learning to deal with the loss of their loved ones. It is here where money can not bring back our loved ones, we must learn to cope up with these personal losses. However bit amount of money, we may have, we can not bring our loved ones from the clutches of death. Loss of a loved one can spell a period of intense grief and depression for some of us. Money can not provide any relief from this situation. The moral is that we should stop running madly after money.