"The Ball Poem" by John Berryman is very easy to understand literally.
The surface meaning is
quite obvious to the reader. A small child loses a ball and feels very sad. However, this poem
also has a profound meaning. Using poetic devices, the poet portrays the emotions of loss and
responsibility. While dealing with this emotion, the person becomes strong and ready to face
and accept reality.
The poet tells us about a young boy who has for the first time learnt the lesson of facing loss.
He watches his ball bounce down the street into the water. The Ball he loses is a symbol of the
happy memories of his childhood. The boy is attached to the ball because he has possessed it
for some time. The poet acquaints us with the central idea of the poem which is the grief felt by
the boy due to the loss of his prized possession. The poet tells the reader that the boy is
inconsolable because he feels that the ball that he has lost is irreplaceable.
The moment of loss also became the moment of realisation for the boy because he understood
his responsibility for the first time. He learnt how one feels after losing a prized possession.
Money cannot buy memories or moments associated with the ball that he has lost forever.
Rhyme scheme - "The Ball Poem" has no rhyme scheme. It is written in free verse.
Symbolism - It is the use of symbols to represent ideas. The symbolic meaning is different from
the literal one.
In the last stanza, the poet tells us how the boy learns to endure grief of lost possessions after
losing his ball. Everyone faces losses in life, learns to let go, leaves the grief and loss behind
and comes to grips with the true meaning of loss. Hence, the loss of the ball becomes a learning
lesson for the boy.
The Ball is a symbol of the boy's childhood days. The loss of the ball symbolises the loss of
innocence associated with childhood. It is symbolic of the boy gaining knowledge about how to
overcome loss and survive. This later facilitates the boy's moving onto manhood.
Metaphor - It is a poetic device wherein a similarity between two things is only implied
(suggested) but not stated.
e.g. All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went.
Alliteration - The repetition of the same sound used to start closely placed words
e.g. What, what
buys a ball back
Repetition - The word 'ball' has been repeated to emphasize its loss and the consequent loss of
innocence.
Repetition of the word. "what"
Repetition of the phrase "how to stand up" emphasizing the importance of overcoming grief
Enjambment - continuation of a clause or sentence from one line to the next
e.g. I saw it go
Merrily bouncing
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down
All his young days into the harbour where
Apostrophe - when the poet addresses someone not present
e.g.Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy.
The poet addresses the boy who doesn't even respond.
Transferred Epithet - When an emotion is displaced from a person and attributed to something
non-living
e.g. desperate eyes
Anaphora - Use of two words in two or three lines
e.g. What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what
Imagery - Merrily bouncing, down the street
Asssonance - use of the vowel sound 'e'
e.g. He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes
