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back our love, nor replace the things that we love: the things that really matter.

In this poem, the ball personifies his young days and happy innocence. In this world, people will take the ball 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. Ball will be lost always, little boy, and no one buys a ball back. This poem goes to show how, all throughout
our life,we will be forced to do things that we don't want to do; and we will lose or have to give up the things that
we love. But, despite this, we have to learn to stand up - to be strong and get on with our life - no matter how much
it hurts inside. Because that is the only way we will survive; we have to learn to accept and let go - and not cling
onto something that we 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 the 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.
short questions & answers: ASSESSMENT
Q1: What message does John Berryman want to convey through this poem?
Q2: How does the boy feel at the loss of his ball?
Q3: “Money is external.’ What does the poet mean by this expression?

Text book questions: ASSIGNMENT

Q1: Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?

Q2: “… staring down/All his young days into the harbour where/His ball went …” Do you think the boy has had the
ball for a long time? Is it linked to the memories of days when he played with it?

Q3: What does “in the world of possessions” mean?

Q4: Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.

Q5: What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.
Q6: Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph describing how you felt then, and saying
whether — and how — you got over your loss.