The Ball Poem

Summary

In this poem, John Berryman tells us about our reactions at some material loss. A boy loses a ball. He is very upset at the loss. Buying a new ball does not cost much. It is also easily available. But the poet wants the child to understand and accept the loss. He wants him to also learn to overcome the loss himself.

Comprehension Questions

Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:

1. What is the theme of the poem —’The Ball Poem’?

In this world sometimes we lose things which we love and are attached to. We must not feel disheartened, dejected and desperate but try to stand up and bear the loss through self-understanding as the boy who lost the ball he loved was

trying to learn.

2. What shows that the ball was valuable for the boy?

The ball was valuable for the boy is obvious from the way he reacts after losing it He was shocked, remained fixed, trembled with grief staring at the place where the ball had fallen. All this shows that he loved the ball and it was valuable for him.

3. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.

I don’t think the boy has lost anything earlier. The first loss is shocking and full of grief. The line ’An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy’ reflects it. Also in the ‘senses first responsibility’ the word first shows that it was his first loss.

4. What does the poet notice at the beginning of the poem?

The poet sees a boy playing near a harbour with a ball. The poet saw his ball bouncing. It bounced and fell into the water of the harbour. The boy lost his ball. He became very sad.

5. What was the effect of the loss of ball on the boy?

The poet sees the boy whose ball has fallen into the harbour. He describes the effect of the loss on the boy. The boy is shaken with grief. He trembles and stares down the harbour. His past days come alive in his mind.

6. Explain the line, “And no one buys a ball back. Money is external”.

This line means that no one can buy something that is lost forever. No one can buy the boy that very ball which he has lost. Money is an external thing. It is a medium of possessing things. But even money cannot compensate for the sense of loss suffered by a person.

7. Why does the poet say, “Balls will be lost always”?

In this poem, balls are the symbol of man’s possessions. We love our things. Some things are dearer to us than the others. But nothing is permanent in life. We may lose our dear things. Then we suffer from a sense of loss. This is experienced by everyone in life. That is why, the poet says, ‚Balls will be lost always‛.

Answer the following questions in 100-150 words:

1. How did the boy really react to the loss of the ball or was he fearful of something or someone? Are there any lessons to be learnt?

(i) The boy was not fearful of anyone; in fact, he was really upset about the loss of the ball. The ball was valuable for him. He was shocked, remained fixed, trembled with grief staring at the place where the ball had fallen. His family must not have been affected by the loss as a ball is easily available and

inexpensive.

(ii) The loss of the ball teaches a lesson to us. Money is external in the sense that it can give you only outer happiness or pleasure not inner happiness. Money cannot buy the emotions and heavenly virtues. It cannot be linked with old memories. Moreover, self-consolation, realization or understanding is more effective and lasting than done by an external agency or a person.

2. What is the main idea of the poem?

The main idea of the poem is to learn to accept a loss in life. Nothing or no one in life is permanent. The sooner man learns to bear a loss, the better it is. When we lose something for the first time, we feel very sad. But later we learn to live with our loss. In this poem, the boy loses his ball. He is very sad. The poet can buy him another hall. But he does not want to do so. He wants the boy to learn the bitter truth of life that everyone can suffer the loss of something dear.

Questions from the text book.
Thinking about the Text

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. Then, if someone intrudes or disturbs, 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. ”...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?

Yes, the boy has had the ball for a long time. It is clear from the lines in the poem ‘staring down/ All his young days...’ These lines show that the ball is linked to the memories of many days when he played with it. 

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

It means ‘the world’ of materialistic things. In such a world, ones’ possessions carry importance.

4. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.

The boy has lost something earlier also. It is clear in the opening line ‘What is the boy now’.

5. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.

The poet says that the boy is learning to live with his loss. In this world, loss is a fact. The boy has lost his ball. He is shaken by it. But he must try to understand the emotional implication of the sense of loss.

6. Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph describing how you felt then, and saying whether—and how—you got over your loss.

Yes. I have lost many things in life. But the loss of my camera will always remain fresh in my memory. My father had given it to me on my fourteenth birthday. I was very happy. I showed it to many friends. One day we went to see a match. We went to the local bus. I placed it on my seat. When the bus stop came, I left the bus and forgot the camera on the bus. It was lost forever. I remained sad for many days at that loss.

Practice Questions

Q1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. 

(a) No use to say. ‘O there are other balls’: Ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down All his young days into the harbour where His ball went. I would not intrude on him; 

I. Why is there no use to say ‘O there are other balls’?
a. Other balls are inexpensive.
b. Other balls are not easily available.
c. Other balls cannot replace the lost ball.
d. Other balls are expensive. 

ii. What comes to his mind when he stares at ‘it’?
a. He needs money to buy a new one.
b. His young days.
c. How he can get ‘it’ back.
d. He can buy a new one. 

iii. Why is the boy sad?
a. He has lost his ball.
b. He does not have money to buy another ball.
c. He fell down while playing.
d. He has lost his way. 

iv. Find the word from the passage which means ‘to enter a situation where one is not welcome’.
a. intrude
b. grief
c. rigid
d. trembling

(b) 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 ‘0 there are other balls’; 

I. The boy who has lost ball is in the state of____________.
a. surprise
b. happiness
c. Shock and grief
d. nervousness 

ii. The ball went into the water happily_____________.
a. dancing
b. bouncing
c. singing
d. walking 

iii. The ball got lost in______________.
a. the garden
b. the school
c. the street
d. the water 

iv. Give the antonym of the word ‘merrily’.
a. sadly
b. angrily
c. humourously
d. joyfully

Q2 Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each.

(a) Express your views on the title of the poem, ‘The Ball Poem’.

When one reads the title ‘The Ball Poem’, one assumes that the poem may be a light- hearted one, perhaps about the joys of childhood. However, as the reader reads the poem, the seriousness of the topic comes forth, as does the title’s appropriateness.

(b) A ball is an easily available, inexpensive thing. Then, why is the boy so sad to lose it?

No doubt the ball is an easily available and inexpensive item but the ball, the boy has lost is valuable for him. His memories of young days are associated with it for he had been playing with it for a long time. It was not an ordinary but special a ball for him. No other ball could take its place. So, he is sad to lose it.

(c) ‘He senses first responsibility’—what responsibility is referred to here?

The responsibility referred to here 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.

(d) Why did the poet not console the boy?

The poet did not console the boy for two reasons—One, the boy was too shocked and grief-stricken to listen to any sense. Second, the poet also observed that the boy was trying to stand up or bear the loss on his own through self-understanding which is much more reflective and lasting. The poet’s or anybody else’s consoling would not be that effective.

Q3 Answer the following questions in in 100 -150 words.

(a) 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 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.