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Ball Poem
Ball Poem
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 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.
Question 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.
Answer: No, it seems that the boy did not lose anything earlier. It is evident from
the words ‘He senses 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.
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 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.