By John Berryman

ABOUT THE POET

John Berryman (October 25, 1914 – January 7, 1972) was a

scholar and professor as well as a poet born in McAlester,
Oklahoma USA. He was a major figure in American poetry
in the second half of the 20th century and is considered a key
figure in the Confessional school of poetry.
He is best-known for The Dream Songs (1969), an intensely
personal sequence of 385 poems which brought him the
Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. In these he
invented a style and form able to accommodate a vast range
of material while expressing his turbulent emotions.
 Central Idea of the Poem
‘The Ball Poem’ is a poem on the first
lessons of loss and responsibility that
every person has to learn in his or her
life. A boy loses his ball and is overtaken
by grief. It is not a ball that can be
substituted by another – it is the one that
carries with it all his childhood
memories. The boy knows that he cannot
get his ball back, he slowly learns the
importance of being responsible for what
one has. He also learns the meaning of
loss – the pain that accompanies it, and
the strength that every person must show
to overcome it and move on.
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!

In these lines, the poet asks his readers a question.

He has seen a young boy’s ball rolling away from
him, bouncing happily on its way, and finally
falling into the water. He asks his readers what the
boy should do now.
In these lines, the poet talks about the first bad
experience of the boy and his inability to solve/
face the problem.
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.

In these lines, the poet thinks for a moment that he

ought to console the boy who has lost his ball by
telling him that there will be other balls just like
the one which he will come across sooner or later.
However, he understands that such false
consolation will not make the boy feel any better.
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.

A feeling of grief has come over the boy, he loses

hope; feels hopeless and becomes depressed. He
stands stiff for some time and then starts
shivering. He watches the ball go into the harbour
and down in the water, and he feels that his
childhood has taken the same route away from
him. At such a time, the poet feels it would be
wrong to go up to the boy and intrude on his
solitude. Giving him a dime to purchase another
ball will not hold any value for him.
Now
He senses his 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.

In these lines, the poet tells us that the little boy is

undergoing a transformation. He is just now
coming to the realisation that the ball was his
responsibility, as many things will follow after
this. Nothing you own will be yours forever, other
people will take away your ball, or it will get lost
in some way or the other. He realises that losses
are a part of life. No one will buy another ball for
you.
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.

Money is only something you can show off, but

ultimately it can not buy you inner peace. Money
can not buy lost childhood, memories, dreams and
lost feelings. Money is external to such losses.
Here, ‘the ball’ is a symbol for one’s possessions,
and the poet is saying that we will certainly lose
them one day and they cannot be easily replaced.
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.

In these lines, the poet says that the boy’s eyes

have become filled with an awful sadness, but
behind all that grief, he is learning an important
lesson. He is learning about the loss of things one
considers precious. He is learning to accept the
loss and then move on. Now, he attains the
knowledge and understanding of the nature of
loss. He learns that losses are a part and parcel of
life.
 TRANSFERRED EPITHET
Desperate Eyes – The eyes are not sad, but
the boy is sad, eyes just express his
emotion.
POETIC DEVICE USED
THROUGHOUT THE POEM
SYMBOLISM
The ball is a symbol for the loss of
innocence, family, friends, relations and
loved ones.
The poem describes the reality of life, which everyone faces.
It is about how to stand up against the sorrows and miseries
of life. We have to accept the harsh realities of our life, we
have to learn to bear the loss of our loved ones and things.
The poem deals with the theme of the loss of innocence and
knowledge of one’s responsibilities. One has to be
responsible to take care of one’s belongings
The poem gives us a message that money is external; it
cannot buy back our love, nor replace the things that we
love: the things that really matter. The poem aptly conveys
the message of hope and encouragement. Life is precious
and should not be wasted; it can be lived purposefully and
fruitfully only when we stand up and come out of our hard
times. Life must not be wasted in grieving and mourning
over the losses suffered and acceptance is the only way to
live a peaceful life.