(iii)
.......Now 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.
(a) What does the boy understand?
(b) What does the word 'balls' signify?
(c) Explain 'In a world of possessions'.
(d) What is the meaning of the word 'possessions'?
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.
(a) What is the boy learning?
(b) Why are the boy's eyes desperate?
(c) What do you mean by epistemology of loss?
(d) What does every man need to know one day?
Answers
Explanation:
The Ball Poem Summary
The poet is talking about a little boy who has lost his ball. He was playing with his ball. The ball skipped from his hand and went into the nearby water body. The poet says that this sight of the boy losing his favorite ball made him think about the boy and his reaction to this situation. He further says that the boy was helplessly looking into the water where his ball had gone. He was sad and was trembling with fear. He got so immersed in his sorrow that he kept standing near the harbour for a very long time and kept on looking for his ball. The poet says that he could console him that he may get new balls or he could also give him some money to buy another ball. But he stops himself from doing so because he thinks that the money may bring a new ball but will not bring the memories and feelings attached to the lost ball. He further says that the time has come for the boy to learn his responsibilities. Here the poet wants to say that now the boy will learn the toughest lesson of life. The lesson of accepting the harsh realities of life that one day we will lose our loved ones and our loved things.
1 a) The boy was very sad as he had lost his ball.
(b) The poet says so as the loss of the ball is of a major consequence to the boy.
(c) Merrily means happily.
(d) The ball went to the water
2 a) The boy was very sad as he had lost his ball.
(b) The poet says so as the loss of the ball is of a major consequence to the boy.
(c) Merrily means happily.
(d) The ball went to the water
Answer:
a. The boy will understand what it feels like to lose something and eventually he will learn to cope with the losses one has to face in their life.
b. The balls signify the boy’s happy young days with innocence in abundance.
c. In the world of possessions, means we are living in a world where everybody likes to own materials in their own names.
d. Possessions mean things one owns.
a. The boy is learning to manage himself with the loss of the ball. He is learning to face the nature of loss.
b. The boy’s eyes are desperate because he lost the ball and he knew that he would never get it back.
c. The epistemology of loss means the lesson the boy learns when he loses the ball. It makes him realise the importance of things which are very close to our hearts and which we will cherish forever. It also teaches him to cope with the losses one has to face in life.
d. Every man needs to know one day that loss is a part of life. We will lose something in the course of our lives.
Explanation:
- This is an excerpt from the poem The Ball by John Berryman.
- The poem deals with the emotions we feel when we lose something that is very close to our heart.
- But eventually, we will learn how to cope with the losses in our life.
- The poet brings us the picture of a boy who is playing with his ball.
- The ball bounces and falls into the water.
- The boy becomes very sad as he will not get his ball back.
- The poet feels that the boy will not be happy if some other ball is presented to him, as the ball he lost was so close to his heart that no other ball can make up for it.
- Here, the lost ball stands for all the losses one has had to face in their lifetime.
- As long as we live on this earth, we may have to encounter different types of loss.
- Therefore, we must be capable of facing loss as it is part of life.
- Thus, the reader can interpret this poem metaphorically and literally.
- If the reader interprets literally, the poem deals with the young boy’s emotion when he lost the ball, and how he eventually learns to cope up with that lose.
- Metaphorically speaking this is the story of humanity learning the value of cherished things in life and learns how to deal the losses of life.