English Class 10 - X CBSE Poem 5 The Ball Poem Material

 INTRODUCTION

The poem “The Ball Poem” is written by John Berryman. This poem has described the reality of life which everyone has to face one day. He has touched on the topic of how to stand up against the miseries and sorrows of life.

LITERARY DEVICES

1. Personification - It is a figure of speech that shows the attribution of a personal nature or human 
characteristics to something non-human. In the poem, the poet describes a ball merrily bouncing 
down the street. Merry means happy. It is a human characteristic that is given to the ball.

2. Metaphor - It is a literary device in which a word or phrase is symbolically applied to a thing to which it is not literally applicable. In the poem, the poet says, “Balls will be lost always“. Balls here symbolize possessions that we lose. It also refers to childhood which if lost never comes back.

3. Apostrophe - It is a literary device in which a person is addressed who is either dead or physically not present. In the poem, the poet says, “Balls will be lost always, little boy“. The boy is physically not 
present with the poet.

4. Repetition - It is a literary device in which a word or phrase is repeated two or more times. In the poem, the poet repeats the word “what” in two lines. “what, what is he to do?”.

5. Alliteration - It is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely 
connected words. e.g. “Who has lost his ball”, “What, what is he to do?”, “No one buys a ball back”, “the deep and dark floor of the harbor”, “move my mind and my heart moves with all that moves me”.

6. Enjambment - It is the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. e.g. “I saw it go merrily, down the street”

7. Symbolism - It is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. In the poem, ball and balls 
represent childhood, possessions, and even the father of the poet.

SUMMARY

A boy who was playing with his ball, lost it when it went down from the street and then into the water. The poet is watching the boy who is very much upset after losing the ball. The poet feels that it is no use to say that there are other balls and as such the loss is not important enough to worry about. The poet feels that he should not interfere or enter a situation where he is not welcome and buy another ball for the boy if it costs a little money. But the poet feels that when the boy will grow up, this experience of learning from losing something and coping with the losses by himself will help him a lot. There are bound to the losses, by himself or because of others and nobody might be helpful. Then, during his 
later years, he will be firm and strong to make up for or face the losses because he will recall the loss of his ball and how he reacted and learned. This understanding of the nature of loss will help him what to do when losses occur. It will also help him to be self-reliant and stand up on his feet.

MESSAGE

The message of the poem “The Ball Poem” is that we get things in our life which become a part of our lives. We feel that they will always remain with us. Thus we form an attachment with them. However, a day comes when the thing is no more with us. In such a situation, we feel depressed and hopeless. According to the poet, losing our possessions is a harsh reality of our life on earth. We cannot get away from it. Hence we have to face such a situation and then try to move on.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

English Class 10 - Class X CBSE Chapter 1 A Letter to God Material

 INTRODUCTION A Letter to God by G. Fuentes is a short story written in third-person, about a farmer named Lencho. When a hailstorm destroys his year’s harvest, he writes a letter to God asking for money and sends it to him through the post. A Letter to God is a humorous story about a man’s faith, the dependence it brings along, and the fine line between faith and ignorance that exists in the world. CHARACTERS 1. Lencho - He had a firm belief in God and was very innocent. He was very caring for his family and that is why he decides not to give up and find some way to help his family. 2. Postmaster - He was a nice, very helpful, and genuine man whose natural instinct was to help Lencho and therefore he collects money for him and even deducts some money from his own salary. WORD MEANINGS 1. Crest - top of a hill, top 2. Amiable - friendly and pleasant 3. Contentment - satisfaction 4. Exclaimed - cry out suddenly in surprise, strong emotion, or pain.  5. Regarded - consider or th...
Read more

English Class 10 - X CBSE Chapter 4 From the Diary of Anne Frank Material

INTRODUCTION This chapter is an excerpt from the ‘Diary of a Young Girl’ written by Anne Frank. It is an autobiography that was first published in 1947. In this chapter, the writer Anne Frank tells about her true companion - a diary. She writes everything about her life in her diary and considers it her true friend. At the time of the invasion of German over Holland, her family went into hiding. At that time she started to write in her diary. She spent her adolescent years hidden from the outside world, and her diary kept all her secrets. CHARACTERS 1. Anne Frank - The 13 years old Jewish girl who writes a diary while she is hiding in Amsterdam from the Nazis during World War II. 2. Margot Frank - Anne’s sister who is three years older than Anne. 3. Otto Frank - Anne’s father who is a Jewish businessman who left Germany after Hitler’s rise to power, hoping to find refuge in Holland. 4. Mrs. Frank - Anne’s mother who is the source of many conflicts with Anne during the two years that th...
Read more