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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
● The poet is talking about a little boy who has lost his
ball.
● He was playing with his ball.
● The ball skipped from his hand and went into
the nearby water body.
Q. what has happened to the ball?
● The poet says that this sight of the boy losing his
favorite ball made him think about the boy and his
reaction to this situation.
● He further says that the boy was helplessly looking
into the water where his ball had gone.
Q. Where did the ball go?
● He was sad and was trembling with fear.
Q. How has the loss affected the boy?
● He got so immersed in his sorrow that he kept
standing near the harbour for a very long time and
kept on looking for his ball.
● The poet says that he could console him that he may
get new balls or he could also give him some money to
buy another ball.
● But he stops himself from doing so because he thinks
that the money may bring a new ball but will not bring
the memories and feelings attached to the lost ball.
Q. Why does the poet say ‘No use to say – ‘O
there are other balls’?
● He further says that the time has come for the boy to learn
his responsibilities.
● Here the poet wants to say that now the boy will learn the
toughest lesson of life.
● The lesson of accepting the harsh realities of life that one
day we will lose our loved ones and our loved things.
Q. What does “In a world of possessions
mean?”
Critical Analysis of the Poem

● This poem can be interpreted both literally and

metaphorically.
● If taken literally, it is a soulful picture of little boys
growing up and learning to deal with the loss of the first
thing he has ever held dear.
● If taken metaphorically, it is the story of mankind learning
to deal with the loss of their loved ones.
● The ball is a metaphor for everything that we think is
irreplaceable in our lives.
● It is obvious that anything that is irreplaceable is very
valuable to us, and it is our responsibility to take care of
those things.
● People taking away one’s ball or one’s ball getting lost is a
metaphor for death.
● What is most precious to us is a person whom we love dearly.
● Hence, we always try to take care of them.
● But sooner or later, every man must die, for man is a mortal
creature.
● There is nothing we can do to stop this process, and hence it is
something we must learn to deal with.
● Loss of a loved one can spell a period of intense grief and
depression for some of us.
● The poet’s message is that life goes on despite the death of our
loved ones.
● Merrily - in a cheerful way
● Trembling - shake involuntarily
● Rigid - not flexible
● Dime - a ten-cent coin
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