'The Ball Poem'

BY-John Berryman
ABOUT AUTHOR:

John Allyn McAlpin Berryman was an American poet and scholar. 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.

Born: 25 October 1914, McAlester, Oklahoma, United States

Died: 7 January 1972, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Spouse: Kate Donahue (m. 1961–1972), Ann Levine (m. 1956–1959), Eileen Simpson (m.

1942–1956)

Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, National Book Award for Poetry, MORE

Education: Columbia University (1936), University of Cambridge, South Kent School, Clare

College, Columbia College

Parents: Martha Little Smith

GLOSSARY
NO Words Meaning

O there are other The words suggest that the loss is not
1
balls important enough to worry about
2 Shaking grief Sadness which greatly affects a person
3 Rigid Very Stiff
4 Merrily Happy and joyous
5 Trembling Shaking profusely
To enter a situation where one is not
6 Intrude
welcome
7 Insignificant Less important
8 Trivialise To consider not worthy enough
9 Mockery To make fun of
10 Velocity The speed at which something moves
11 Empathise To feel the emotion of a person
12 Bouncing To jump up and down
13 A dime Money that values to ten cents in the U.S
14 Desperate Feeling hopeless
Epistemology of
15 Understanding the nature of loss
loss
16 Epistemology The study of the nature of knowledge itself
17 Worthless Not good enough
18 Possessions Things/objects that one owns
19 Suppressing Holding in
20 Mute spectator Not saying anything
21 Materialistic Things that can be touched and bought
22 Outburst Getting angry
23 Responsibility The duty to deal with something
24 Knack The ability to do something