CBSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Detailed explanation-1: -Boys usually lose such balls and again buy new ones as they are not very costly. But the boy seems to be inconsolable over the loss. No money can buy the same ball that he has lost forever. Similarly, no wealth can buy back the childhood that he has lost forever.

Detailed explanation-2: -Answer: The poet says so because no one can buy the ball back because it is lost. He means to say that money cannot compensate for the sense of loss.

Detailed explanation-3: -He is sad because all the memories of the childhood days went down the harbour with the ball. Here the poet says that the boy is very sad as the ball which has now gone into the water reminds him of those sweet memories, of the times when he owned it. This loss is unbearable for him and he is grief stricken.

Detailed explanation-4: -The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning how to stand up in a world of possessions where he will lose things, will buy some more to replace the ones lost, but would never be able to buy back the thing that he had lost. He is sensing his first responsibility as he has lost the ball.

Detailed explanation-5: -By losing the ball, the boy has also lost all the childhood memories associated with that ball. Simply buying a new ball cannot bring back these memories. Hence, the boy will learn that the world is materialistic and losing valuable things will be inevitable.