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The Ball Poem (2)

The poem explores the theme of loss through the metaphor of a boy losing his ball, representing the irreplaceable things in life. It conveys the message that loss is a natural part of life, and we must learn to cope and move on. The boy's emotional journey illustrates the importance of accepting loss and understanding that life continues despite it.

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Abhinav Srivatsa. R
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6 views2 pages

The Ball Poem (2)

The poem explores the theme of loss through the metaphor of a boy losing his ball, representing the irreplaceable things in life. It conveys the message that loss is a natural part of life, and we must learn to cope and move on. The boy's emotional journey illustrates the importance of accepting loss and understanding that life continues despite it.

Uploaded by

Abhinav Srivatsa. R
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Ball Poem

Theme: The boy represents all children growing up and learning to deal with the loss of the first
thing they have ever held dear.
All human beings shall one day learn to deal with the loss of their favourite things or their loved
ones.
The ball is a metaphor for everything that we think is irreplaceable in our lives. Anything that is
irreplaceable is very valuable to us, and it is our responsibility to take care of those things. But
once in a while they get lost.
There is nothing we can do to stop the loss, and hence it is something we must learn to deal
with.
The poet’s message is that life goes on despite the loss of or dearest things or the death of our
loved ones.
MESSAGE: We have to lose the things which we possess today. Hence we should learn to face
such a situation and move on. In the poem, the young and innocent boy loses his ball which he
was emotionally connected to.
The ball bounces into the river and vanishes away. The boy becomes depressed. However, he
soon learns that losing our favourite possessions is a part of our life. We will lose many things in
the future. Hence we should learn to move on and hope for better.
Epistemology of Loss: Epistemology of loss is the study to learn the nature of loss. In this world
of possession people do every action for the purpose to get or to possess something. No one
performs any action without any selfishness.
So, it is important for the boy to learn that in this world we should have to move further leaving
our favourite things behind. We should learn to cope with the problem.
POETIC DEVICES:
1. Personification: Human characteristics are given to non-human or inanimate things.
ball merrily bouncing down the street
‘Merry’ means ‘happy’. It is a human characteristic which is given to the ball.
2. Metaphor: Word or phrase is symbolically used to convey an idea.
balls will be lost always
‘Ball’ here symbolizes possessions which we lose. It also refers to the 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. Enjambment: It is the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line or
stanza. Ex:
I saw it go merrily, merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over — there it is in the water!
5. Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of adjacent or closely
connected words. Ex:
who has lost his ball (/h/ sound)
no one buys a ball back (/b/ sound)
6. 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 poet.

Questions:
1. What was the reaction of the boy on losing the ball? (40-50 words)
2. How can the loss of the ball be compared to human life? What lesson according to the poet
has the boy learnt in life? (40-50 words)
3. Why can no one buy a ball back? (40-50 words)
4. "A thing lost, is lost forever." Comment. (100-150 words)

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