CBSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Detailed explanation-1: -The ball poem is about a boy who loses his ball and afterwards is seen grieving the loss of his ball. The ball poem has symbolism as its outstanding figure of speech. The writer uses the ball as a symbol, where losing the ball symbolise losing his childhood that the had cherished for long then he lost it unexpectedly.

Detailed explanation-2: -According to the poet, the boy is learning about responsibility from the loss of the ball. 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.

Detailed explanation-3: -The ball is symbolic of childhood memories. The poet focuses on the boy wanting the same ball back and not a new one because that was the ball with which the boy was emotionally connected. It had been with him for so long. This symbolizes that childhood memories are precious.

Detailed explanation-4: -Answer: The poet, John Berryman, uses the ball to comment in a significant truth of life. The ball in the poem shows that along your way or path in life we should not dwell on the things we lose on the way. As the famous quote says everything happens for a reason.

Detailed explanation-5: -Why the loss of the ball symbolizes the loss of innocence and childhood? (a) Like childhood, the lost ball can’t be retrieved. (b) Like childhood, the ball is also small.