The Ball Poem by John Berryman Questions and Answers, Class 10 NCERT Solutions

The Ball Poem by John Berryman Questions and Answers, Class 10 NCERT Solutions

A Boy Lost His Small Ball, But Gets Back Something Very Big!

BALL POEM SUMMARY, NOTES, ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERS

Summary   In the poem "The Ball Poem" written by John Berryman, a little boy was playing with his ball. Suddenly, the ball slid bouncing down the street and sloped down in the water. To be precise, the boy lost his ball. He was unhappy. Shaking grief fixes the boy. He stood beside the harbor where his ball went down. The grief of loss made him stand rigid and trembling. 

   The poet, at that moment, could intrude him and provide his sympathetic support. But he did not. He left all to the boy, but with a hidden intention, and that is, he wanted the boy to learn a lesson from the loss of the ball. Like the ball, loss is a paramount part of life. But every man must have to stand up and cohabit with the epistemology of loss.

   Though the poet could offer him a new ball, yet he did not because a new ball could not have replaced the emotional attachment that the boy had with the old ball. So, the boy has to learn that loss of lovable is an eternal truth, and it is a rule of this universe. All one can do is to outlive the loss. As a growing up boy, he must learn his first responsibility in the world of possession. The golden rule of this world is that people will take balls and at some point of time, they will lose it again. It however does not mean an end of life. 

  Every man must learn the epistemology of loss. Then only the small boy will one day turn into a responsible man. In this small poem, the poet conveys a bigger truth of life yet in a simple words with the help of poetic symbols.

BALL POEM BY JOHN BERRYMAN NOTES

Very Short Answer Type Questions:

1.Who wrote the poem “The Ball Poem”?
Answer: John Berryman wrote the poem “The Ball Poem”.

2.Who is the writer/author of the poem “The Ball Poem”?
Answer: John Berryman is the writer/author of the poem “The Ball Poem”.

3.What did the boy lose?
Answer: The boy lost his ball.

4.Where did the boy lost his ball?
Answer: The boy lost his ball down in the water. 

5.What has happened to the boy?
Answer: The boy has lost his ball and now he has been grieved with sadness.

6.Why does the poet say ‘No use to say - ‘O there are other balls’?
Answer: The poet says ‘No use to say - ‘O there are other balls’ because other balls cannot take place of the lost ball. 

7.Which word means ‘happily’?
Answer: The word ‘merrily’ also means ‘happily’.

8.Where did the ball go?
Answer: The ball went bouncing down in the water.

9.What is the boy learning?
Answer: The boy is learning the epistemology of loss.

10.Why are the boy’s eyes desperate?
Answer: The boy’s eyes are desperate because he is trying to make out how to stand up against the loss.

11.What do you mean by ‘epistemology of loss’?
Answer: ‘Epistemology of loss’ means understanding the nature of loss and trying to understand what it means to lose something.

12.What every man needs to know one day?
Answer: Every man needs to know one day that losing something is a part of life and he must stand up against such losses. 

 

Ball Poem By John Berryman Short Answer Type Questions: 

1.Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer money to buy another ball?
Answer: The poet says, “I would not intrude on him” because the poet wants the boy to learn a lesson from the loss, to experience his first responsibility.
Though the poet can offer him a new ball, yet he does not because a new ball cannot replace the emotional attachment that the boy had with the old ball.

2.“.... staring down/All his young days into the harbor 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?
Answer: The boy lost the ball in his childhood days and he used to mourn the loss all throughout his childhood days. The loss of the ball linked him up with the grief of loss in his childhood. 

3.What does “in the world of possession” mean?
Answer: “In the world of possession” is used to indicate the materialistic world where all the people are busy to take possession of earthly objects. But the fact is that money is external that can buy only material things. Real happiness is something different from money or material possessions. 

4.Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier?
Answer: No, the poem clearly shows that the boy had not lost anything earlier because the loss of his ball jeopardizes him in the grief of loss. 

5.What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball?
Answer: The boy experiences a loss for the first time and it gave him many secret lessons. Loss is a paramount part of human life. But no one can stand by a loss, rather they will have to go ahead with the grief of loss. The boy is now experiencing his first responsibility in the world of possessions. He is understanding the meaning of loss for the first time.