TEACHER SUPPORT DOCUMENT

Subject: English Standard: X

Chapter: The Ball Poem

Resources
Teacher Support Document 1 Video 1
Worksheet 1
Summary
In this poem, John Berryman tells us about our reactions at some material loss. A boy
loses a ball. He is very upset at the loss. Buying a new ball does not cost much. It is also
easily available. But the poet wants the child to understand and accept the loss. He wants
him to also learn to overcome the loss himself.

Comprehension Questions
1. What is the theme of the poem —’The Ball Poem’?
In this world sometimes we lose things which we love and are attached to.
We must not feel disheartened, dejected and desperate but try to stand up
and bear the loss through self-understanding as the boy who lost the ball
he loved was trying to learn.
2. What shows that the ball was valuable for the boy?
The ball was valuable for the boy is obvious from the way he reacts after
losing it He was shocked, remained fixed, trembled with grief staring at the
place where the ball had fallen. All this shows that he loved the ball and it
was valuable for him.
3. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest
the answer.
I don’t think the boy has lost anything earlier. The first loss is shocking
and full of grief. The line ’An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy’ reflects
it. Also in the ‘senses first responsibility’ the word first shows that it was
his first loss.
4. What does the poet notice at the beginning of the poem?
The poet sees a boy playing near a harbour with a ball. The poet saw his
ball bouncing. It bounced and fell into the water of the harbour. The boy
lost his ball. He became very sad.
5. What was the effect of the loss of ball on the boy?
The poet sees the boy whose ball has fallen into the harbour. He describes
the effect of the loss on the boy. The boy is shaken with grief. He
trembles and stares down the harbour. His past days come alive in his
mind.
6. Explain the line, “And no one buys a ball back. Money is external”.
This line means that no one can buy something that is lost forever. No

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one can buy the boy that very ball which he has lost. Money is an external
thing. It is a medium of possessing things. But even money cannot
compensate for the senseof loss suffered by a person.
7. Why does the poet say, “Balls will be lost always”?
In this poem, balls are the symbol of man’s possessions. We love our
things. Some things are dearer to us than the others. But nothing is
permanent in life. We may lose our dear things. Then we suffer from a
sense of loss. This is experienced by everyone in life. That is why, the poet
says, ‚Balls will be lost always‛.

Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:

1. How did the boy really react to the loss of the ball or was he fearful of
something or someone? Are there any lessons to be learnt?
(i) The boy was not fearful of anyone; in fact, he was really upset
about the loss of the ball. The ball was valuable for him. He was shocked,
remained fixed, trembled with grief staring at the place where the ball
had fallen. His family must not have been affected by the loss as a ball is
easily available and inexpensive.
(ii) The loss of the ball teaches a lesson to us. Money is external in the
sense that it can give you only outer happiness or pleasure not inner
happiness. Money cannot buy the emotions and heavenly virtues. It
cannot be linked with old memories. Moreover, self-consolation,
realization or understanding is more effective and lasting than done by an
external agency or a person.
2. What is the main idea of the poem?
The main idea of the poem is to learn to accept a loss in life. Nothing or
no one in life is permanent. The sooner man learns to bear a loss, the
better it is. When we lose something for the first time, we feel very sad.
But later we learn to live with our loss. In this poem, the boy loses his ball.
He is very sad. The poet can buy him another hall. But he does not want
to do so. He wants the boy to learn the bitter truth of life that everyone
can suffer the loss of something dear.

Questions from the text book.

Thinking about the Text

1. Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer
him money to buy another ball?
When a person is trying to come over his grief on his own, he is busy
making himself understand certain things. Then, if someone intrudes or
disturbs, his chain of thoughts is broken. It makes him irritated.
Moreover, self-consolation, realization or understanding is more

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effective and lasting than when it is done by an external agency or a
person. The poet knows it. So he does not intrude on him. His offer of
money to buy another ball is useless for the boy wants the same ball he
is attached to and has been playing for a long time. No other ball will be
able to take its place.
2. ”…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?
Yes, the boy has had the ball for a long time. It is clear from the lines in
the poem ‘staring down/ All his young days…’ These lines show that the
ball is linked to the memories of many days when he played with it.
3. What does “in the world of possessions” mean?
It means ‘the world’ of materialistic things. In such a world, ones’
possessions carry importance.
4. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that
suggest the answer.
The boy has lost something earlier also. It is clear in the opening line
‘What is the boy now’.
5. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to
explain this in your own words.
The poet says that the boy is learning to live with his loss. In this world,
loss is a fact. The boy has lost his ball. He is shaken by it. But he must try
tounderstand the emotional implication of the sense of loss.
6. Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph
describinghow you felt then, and saying whether—and how—you got over
your loss. (Suggested answer)
Yes. I have lost many things in life. But the loss of my camera will always
remain fresh in my memory. My father had given it to me on my
fourteenth birthday. I was very happy. I showed it to many friends. One
day we went to see a match. We went to the local bus. I placed it on my
seat. When the bus stop came, I left the bus and forgot the camera on
the bus. It was lost forever.I remained sad for many days at that loss.

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