The Ball Poem By John Berryman

  5. The Ball Poem By John Berryman

This poem is about a boy whose ball bounces down into the street and finally falls down into the water in the harbour. The poet watches the whole incident. He watches the boy becoming sad and disappointed. He does not want to offer any consolation to the boy by saying that he would have his other ball, etc. He let the boy experience the pain at the loss of something dear to him. Thus the boy learns for the first time that one should not grieve too much over the loss of material things because these are only for some time with us.

Central Idea: We should not feel sad at the loss of our worldly possessions. Things come to us to go. Sometimes our dearest and most precious possessions are also lost. It does not mean we should keep on weeping at the loss forever. Life must go on without looking behind at the things that pain us.

Lines 1 – 4:

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!

Word meanings: 1. Merrily: happily 2. Bouncing: jumping

Explanation: In these lines, we come to know that the poet watches a little boy playing with a ball. After some time, the ball rolls down from him. It keeps on going towards the water in the harbour. The ball crosses the street and finally falls into the water. The poet has seen all this occurring. The poet says that the ball was bouncing and rolling down merrily in the street and then in the water. Now the poet put a question to the reader as to what the boy should do now.

Deep Meaning: The poet describes the state of mind of a young boy when he loses his ball for the first time. The ball stands for material possession. This is the common tendency that we all grieve over the loss of our dear possession. But the poet is of the opinion that children must be taught not to grieve over material things. Our possessive nature toward things makes us sad.

 

Lines 5 – 10:

No use to say ‘O there are other balls’:

An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy

As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down

All his young days in the harbour where

His ball went. I would not intrude on him,

A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now

Explanation: The poet says that there is no sense in giving false consolation to the little boy. His parents should not say that they would arrange for other balls to make the child happy. It would not benefit the boy in any way. After that, the poet describes the condition of the boy after losing the ball. As the boy is sure that his ball is lost, it makes his body shiver in grief. This is his first experience of losing something he dearly loved. He stands like a statue staring down in the harbour where his ball had disappeared. It seems that the poet also remembers his childhood days passed on the harbour playing with balls. His balls had also rolled down there into the water. He also had the same type of painful feeling when he lost his ball for the first time. The poet decides not to intrude on him. Let him alone bear the loss of his dear possession. If a dime or another ball is given to him to reduce his pain, it will not help him.

Lines 11-14

He senses first responsibility

In a world of possessions. People will take balls,

Balls will be lost always, little boy,

And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.

Explanation: In this stanza, the poet tells us how the little boy had learnt his first lesson of responsibility. This realisation must have come to the child after undergoing the process of grief that emerges in the human heart at the loss of some dear possession. The boy understood that it was his responsibility to keep his things safe. The poet further says that in the world of possession, things do not remain in one’s possession forever. Things come and get lost. Sometimes things are snatched by others. One thing gets replaced by the other. Then the poet says that money can be used to purchase material things. But we cannot purchase emotions by money. No one keeps on weeping forever over the things that are lost. Life goes on in this manner.

Critical Analysis:: Here, the ball is just a symbol of worldly possession. Human beings sometimes have to lose even their dearest and most precious possessions. It is natural that one grieves over the death of someone near and dear. One has to bear that loss also. The loss of the ball was not a big thing that should make one grieve so much. But it was the first experience of the child when he has lost something he possessed so dearly. The poet did not want to disturb him because it was desirable for the child to learn his first lesson over losing his possession and learning the responsibility to keep it safe.

 Lines 15 – 20:

He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,

The epistemology of loss, how to stand up

Knowing what every man must one day know

And most know many days, how to stand up.

And gradually light returns to the street,

A whistle blows, the ball is out of sight.

 

Word-meanings: 1. Desperate: feeling extremely sad and disappointed 2. Epistemology /ɪˌpɪs.təˈmɒl.ə.dʒi/; The study of knowing things 3. Gradually: slowly, at a slow pace

Explanation: The poet further says that the little boy is learning the knowledge of how one feels after something dear to him is lost. At the same time, the boy is learning how to overcome the emotions that make one worried over the loss of something that has remained so much dear to him so far. This is a general truth that one must know to stand in life and resume work without brooding over the loss that occurred in the past.

After some time, the boy comes out of his grief and feels the present through his surroundings. He comes to know that there is a light in the streets. He listens to the whistle of a ship nearby. He also realises the truth that he cannot get back his ball as it has gone out of both, his sight and reach.

Lines 21 – 25:

Soon part of me will explore the deep and dark

Floor of the harbour. I am everywhere,

I suffer and move, my mind and my heart move

With all that move me, under the water

Or whistling, I am not a little boy.

 

 

Some Important Points in the poem for Multiple Choice Questions:

1. The little boy is confused and does not know what ot do when his ball is lost.

2. He trembles with grief at the loss of the ball.

3. The poet saw the ball merrily bouncing in the street and then falling into the water of the harbour.

4. Then the poet remembers all his young days.

5. There was no worth/use in offering new balls to the child.

6. The loss of the ball makes the boy learn the responsibility to keep his possessions safe.

7. The boy is also learning the lesson of bearing the loss of the things which are dear and precious to him.

8. Money is called external by the poet because we can buy only material things from it. But we cannot by emotions.

9.  John Berryman is the poet of this poem.

10.                  The boy lost his ball in the water of the harbour.

Short Answer-Type Questions

Q1. Why does the poet say, “ I would not intrude on him.” Why doesn’t the poet intend to offer him mney to buy a new ball?

Q2. What was the effect of losing the ball on the boy? Where did he lose the ball?

Q3. What is the main theme/idea/central idea of the poem?

Q4. Who loses the ball and where?

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

Q5. What lesson does the boy need to learn by losing the ball?

Q6. What do the eyes of the boy see in the poem ‘The Ball Poem’? What lesson does he learn?