CBSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Detailed explanation-1: -Apostrophe-It is a literary device in which a physically absent person is addressed. The poet addresses the boy who was not physically present with him-“Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy."

Detailed explanation-2: -Metaphor in “The Ball Poem": Balls will always be lost-The poet is indicating that possessions will always be lost. The balls signify the future loss that the boy has to face with responsibility taking over in life.

Detailed explanation-3: -Metaphor is a common poetic device where an object in, or the subject of, a poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object. A beautiful example can be seen in the first stanza of The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, in the line: The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas…

Detailed explanation-4: -Assonance: repeated use of vowel ‘o’ (boy, now, who, lost). Imagery: when poet says merrily bouncing down the street. Repetition: ‘what’ & ‘ball’ repeated. Asyndeton: no use of conjunction in a sentence (A dime, another ball, is worthless).

Detailed explanation-5: -In this poem, the poet uses the device of metaphor in the 8th line when he compares the boy’s young days or his childhood with the lost ball. The line ‘All his young days into the harbour where His ball went’ is an example of metaphor.