Summary of The Ball Poem
This poem, by John Berryman, is about losing something that you love, and learning to grow up. It is about a little boy, who, for the first time in his young life, is learning what it is like to experience grief at the loss of a much beloved possession-his ball. To us, the loss of a ball is of minor consequence, and our reaction to it is to say ‘O there are other balls’. But to a little boy, this is not so. A dime (US coin worth ten cents), another ball, is worthless. Money is external; it cannot buy back our love, nor replace the things that we love: the things that really matter.
In this poem, the boy’s ball personifies(attribute a personal nature) his young days and happy innocence. In this world, people will take balls just as they will take away our innocence and force us to grow up. And once we lose this innocence, we can never get it back. Balls will be lost always, little boy, and no one buys a ball back. This poem goes to show how, all throughout your life, you will be forced to do things that you don’t want to do; and you will lose or have to give up the things that you love. But, despite this, you have to learn to stand up – to be strong and get on with your life – no matter how much it hurts inside. Because that is the only way you will survive; you have to learn to accept and let go – and not cling (remain very close to) onto something that you can never have.
The poet uses imagery when describing how the ball personifies the spirit of the boy’s childish innocence. In the last five lines, we visualize how the spirit of this little boy, like the ball, is sinking into the dark waters of the harbour. As it drifts further away, the boy learns to grow up, and that part of him that is linked to that ball grows up as well, until it is no longer a little boy.
Explanation
(i) 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!
Words: Merrily: cheerful; Bouncing: jumping up and down
Explanation – The poet is talking about a boy who has lost his ball. He wants to know about him and his reaction because he has lost his ball. Further, he asks to himself that what this boy will do after losing his ball. The poet has seen the ball going away from the boy. He says that the ball was cheerfully jumping up and down in the street. This means that when the ball skipped from boy’s hand it went into the street and later on, it fell into the nearby river.
(ii) 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 into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him;
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility
Words: Grief: sorrow; Rigid: fixed; Trembling: shaking; Harbour: dock, port; Intrude: interrupt, impose; Dime: 10 cents (U.S); Worthless: valueless, useless
Explanation – The poet says that there is no benefit of consoling the boy by saying that he will get another ball because he has other balls too. He says so because the boy is feeling very sad. He is completely surrounded by sorrow. He is sad because all the memories of the childhood days went down the harbour with the ball. Here the poet says that the boy is very sad as the ball which has now gone into the water reminds him of those sweet memories, of the times when he owned it. This loss is unbearable for him and he is grief stricken (suffering). The poet says that he can’t even tell the boy to take some money from him in order to buy another ball. He says so because the new ball will not bring the sense of belonging to the boy. Further, the poet says that the time has come for the boy to learn the responsibility of taking care of his things.
(iii) 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.
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.
Words: Possessions: ownership; External: Here, things with which feelings are not attached; Desperate: hopeless
Epistemology: The Greek word episteme means ‘knowledge’
Here the poet says that the boy has to learn that in this materialistic world, many of his belongings will be lost. He personifies the ball as his belongings, be it the worldly things or the relationships he is in possession of. So, he says that he has to learn to live without them no matter what. He says no one can buy back such things for him. The poet said so because according to him money can’t buy you everything. If it does buy you some materialistic thing, still, it will not be able to buy the sense of belongingness. He says that the boy is learning how to stand up against the sense of lost things. This means that the boy is trying to learn the real truth of life which states that you have to accept the miseries(grief) of life and stand up again. This is the truth which everyone has to learn in his or her life. The harsh truth of standing up against the odd miseries of life that everyone has to bear.
Extra Question Answers
Question 1: What message does John Berryman want to convey through this poem?
Ans: The message that the poet wants to convey is the importance of loss and responsibility in life. We should not forget the importance of possessions.
Question 2: How does the boy feel at the loss of his ball?
Ans: The boy is very much troubled at the loss of his ball. His ball falls in water. He is much upset as he has a long association with the ball.
Question 3: “Money is external.’ What does the poet mean by this expression?
Ans: He makes the boy understand about his responsibility as the loss is immaterial (not important). He can purchase another ball. He explained that the world is full of possessions and money is an external item.
Question 4: Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude (interfere) on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?
Ans: The poet wants the boy to experience the loss. He should learn that it is the part of life. That’s why the poet doesn’t want to interfere the boy and doesn’t want to offer him money to buy another ball.
Question 5: “… 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?
Ans: Yes, the boy has had the ball for a long time i.e. since his childhood. Yes, it is linked with the memories of days when he played with it.
Question 6: What does “in the world of possessions” mean?
Ans: In the world of possessions’ means people like to possess all sorts of things in the world. Money is external because it can buy only material objects; it cannot buy everything that one loses.
Question 7: Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.
Ans: No, the boy hasn’t lost anything earlier. The words ‘He senses first responsibility’ suggest the answer.
Question 8: What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.
Ans: The poet says that the boy is learning to cope up with the loss of the ball. He is experiencing grief and learning to grow up in this world of possessions. He learns that there are so many things in life that are to be lost and cannot be brought back. It is useless to feel sorrow for it.