iii) Explain how the ball has been used as a metaphor in ‘The Ball poem’?
Answers
Answer:
Introduction:
The poet John Berryman through his poem, ‘The Ball Poem’ has described the reality of life
which everyone has to face one day. He has touched the topic of how to stand up against the
miseries and sorrows of life.
Summary:
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, 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 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 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.
This poem consists of only one stanza. There is no rhyming, but the poet instead conveys his
meaning through the rhythm, the tone, and his use of words. For example, in the lines 'I saw it go,
merrily bouncing down the street, and then merrily over' the short, brisk, happy words allow you
to visualize a ball bouncing along. In the lines '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, the words
and rhythm is tragic, dramatic and harsh, which is suitable for the situation. Similar uses of tone
and rhythm help add to the effect of the poem, and help emphasize the meaning.