THE BALL POEM - JOHN BERRYMAN

The poem is about losing something which we love and then learning how to grow
up. The poem is about a little boy who experiences grief for the first time after the
loss of his beloved possession, which is his ball.

The poem starts with the poet’s question, which he asks himself what would the
boy do after losing his ball. The boy was very happy and cheerful when the ball was
with him. Then he notices the ball merrily bouncing down the street and falling into
the water. The poet says that there is no use in saying that the boy will get another
ball. The boy is very sad and is in deep sorrow. He stands rigid, shaking and looking
down which brings him memories of all his young days. All his childhood memories
are gone down in the harbour with the ball.

The poet doesn’t want to intrude and he feels that the boy cannot be told to buy
another ball as it is worthless. The new ball cannot bring childhood memories and
a sense of belonging to the boy. The poet further says that for the first time, the
boy senses responsibility of taking care of his things in the world of possession.
Here, the ball symbolises the happy moments and innocent days of childhood.

The poet says that the world is full of materialistic things. In the world of
possession, people will be losing something similar to the ball all the time. They get
attached to materialistic things, but these things will not stay forever. The boy has
to learn that money is external and he must understand the nature of loss and how
to stand up. This is the truth and everyone has to learn how to bear the loss. At the
same time, we must learn to forget the pain and move ahead by accepting the
nature of loss.