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  • The Ball Poem 1

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    Vandana Rawat
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    The poem describes a boy who loses his ball into a harbor. The boy stares sadly at the water, grieving the loss of his ball that held childhood memories. The poet does not offer the boy money to replace the ball, wanting him to learn from experiencing loss. By losing the ball, the boy senses his first responsibility and understands that while possessions can be lost, money cannot replace memories or undo loss. The poet aims to convey the importance of learning from loss and responsibility through the boy's experience.

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    The poem describes a boy who loses his ball into a harbor. The boy stares sadly at the water, grieving the loss of his ball that held childhood memories. The poet does not offer the boy money to replace the ball, wanting him to learn from experiencing loss. By losing the ball, the boy senses his first responsibility and understands that while possessions can be lost, money cannot replace memories or undo loss. The poet aims to convey the importance of learning from loss and responsibility through the boy's experience.

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    625 views3 pages

    The Ball Poem 1

    Uploaded by

    Vandana Rawat
    The poem describes a boy who loses his ball into a harbor. The boy stares sadly at the water, grieving the loss of his ball that held childhood memories. The poet does not offer the boy money to replace the ball, wanting him to learn from experiencing loss. By losing the ball, the boy senses his first responsibility and understands that while possessions can be lost, money cannot replace memories or undo loss. The poet aims to convey the importance of learning from loss and responsibility through the boy's experience.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    of 3

    THE BALL POEM

    John Berryman
    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 wants the boy to learn from the
    experience of loss. This will teach the boy that loss is also an important part of life; hence the
    poet does not intervene in the boy’s natural process of learning. He also doesn’t offer the boy
    money to buy another ball because the lesson of loss learnt from this experience would become
    worthless and wouldn’t teach the little one to learn the lesson of responsibility from this
    situation.
    2. “… staring 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, it appears that the boy has had the ball for a long time. When it bounced and fell into the
    water, all his childhood memories of wonderful days flashed in front of his eyes. He realised that
    those moments would never come back, just as the ball. He felt that he can buy new balls and
    those would create new memories or moments for him, but those that are gone with the ball into
    the water would never ever return.

    3. What does “in the world of possessions” mean?


    Answer:
    “In the world of possessions” refers to the world consisting of materialistic things. Different
    people possess different things such as land, property, money, or any other valuable thing. In the
    poem, the poet indicates that losing of the ball by the boy may be a very small thing, but this
    would give him a realization of loss and the experience of losing memories associated with it.

    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 did not lose anything earlier. It is evident from the words ‘He senses
    first responsibility in a world of possessions’. This line suggests that the sense of loss gave him
    an experience of understanding how several precious moments are lost with the loss of a
    particular object.

    5. What does John Berryman want to convey through this poem? [CBSE 2011]
    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.
    6. 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 his desperate eyes.

    7. “Money is external”. What does the poet mean by this expression? [CBSE 2014]
    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.

    8. 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.

    9. Why did the poet not offer the boy money to buy another ball? [CBSE 2015]
    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.

    10. Why did the boy feel so sad at the loss of his ball?
    Answer:
    When the boy lost the ball, he plunged in grief. He stood staring down the harbour where his ball
    was lost. The boy was affected profoundly by the loss of his ball because it had been with him
    for a long time. It was linked to the memories of the days when he played with it.
    Long Answer (Value Based) Type Question

    1. Why is it important for everyone to experience loss and to stand up after it? [CBSE2014]
    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.

    2. 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 tries to convey through his poem that the boy has learnt an important lesson to cope up
    with the loss of his ball. He is experiencing grief and sadness while he grows up in this world full
    of possessions. He learns that there are several important things in life that are lost and cannot be
    brought back. He also senses his first sense of responsibility as he loses the ball. The boy learns
    to stand up and leave the loss behind as he moves ahead in his life and understands the true
    meaning and nature of loss.

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