This article contains the Ball Poem Summary and displays the journey of a youth understanding the realities of life. The poet uses the life of a little boy and his connection to a ball to represent the same. The various feelings and realizations of the boy are seen in this poem. This article also contains the ball poem summary stanza wise explanation and class 10 english the ball poem summary in Hindi.

The Ball Poem Summary: About the Poet

This poem is written by American poet and academic John Berryman. His collection of 385 poems called Dream Songs, published in 1969, is his best-known work. For the dream songs, the poet was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Moreover, he received the National Book Award.

Also Read : Road Not Taken Summary

The Ball Poem Summary And The Ball Poem Summary Stanza Wise

The poet poses a query to himself at the beginning of the poem. He mentions a young boy who lost his ball and inquires as to what he will do next. When he had the ball, the child was ecstatic and upbeat. The youngster must have dropped his ball while playing with it while frequently throwing it up and down, the poet continues. The ball must have suddenly fallen out of the boy’s grasp and into the street. It then dropped into the adjoining river and submerged.

The poet claims that it is useless to predict that the boy will receive a second ball. The young boy feels distraught and dejected. He maintains a constant posture while trembling and repeatedly scanning things. The young boy believes that the ball has carried away all of his childhood memories and has been lost in the harbour. It would be pointless to tell the boy to buy another ball. The boy cannot associate his childhood with the new ball or feel a sense of belonging.

The poet continues, “The boy had felt responsibility for the first time.” He ought to take good care of his possessions to prevent future loss. The ball represents childlike happiness and innocence in this context. Man’s naive character is contrasted to the ball’s loss in the game. We cannot regain our innocence once we have lost it.

The world, according to the poet, is replete with materialistic items. Similar to losing a ball, people will continually lose other objects. They become emotionally connected to worldly goods, although they are transient. The boy must learn to live without them. The poet goes on to declare that nothing can be returned. Money is an outside object. Money alone cannot buy everything. The youngster is attempting to move past his disappointment after losing the ball and is learning from the experience. By accepting life’s hardships and getting back up, he is attempting to comprehend the true meaning of life. Everyone discovers the unpleasant reality that suffering is a necessary part of life sooner or later. The last stanza displays the Ball poem theme class 10.

Also read: class 7 English honeycomb poem 8 meadow surprises

The Ball Poem Summary in Hindi

कविता के आरंभ में कवि स्वयं से एक प्रश्न पूछता है। वह एक युवा लड़के का उल्लेख करता है जिसने अपनी गेंद खो दी और पूछता है कि वह आगे क्या करेगा। जब उनके पास गेंद थी, तो बच्चा उत्साहित था। युवा खिलाड़ी ने गेंद को खेलते समय गिरा दिया होगा और बार-बार उसे ऊपर और नीचे फेंका होगा। गेंद अचानक लड़के के हाथ से निकलकर गली में गिर गई होगी। इसके बाद यह बगल की नदी में गिर गया और डूब गया।

कवि का दावा है कि यह भविष्यवाणी करना बेकार है कि लड़के को दूसरी गेंद मिलेगी। छोटा लड़का व्याकुल और निराश महसूस करता है। वह कांपते हुए और चीजों को बार-बार स्कैन करते हुए एक स्थिर मुद्रा बनाए रखता है। युवा लड़के का मानना ​​है कि गेंद ने उसके बचपन की सारी यादें ले ली हैं और बंदरगाह में खो गई है। लड़के को दूसरी गेंद खरीदने के लिए कहना व्यर्थ होगा। लड़का अपने बचपन को नई गेंद से नहीं जोड़ सकता या अपनेपन की भावना महसूस नहीं कर सकता।

कवि कहा कि, “लड़के ने पहली बार जिम्मेदारी महसूस की थी।” भविष्य में होने वाले नुकसान को रोकने के लिए उसे अपनी संपत्ति की अच्छी देखभाल करनी चाहिए। गेंद इस संदर्भ में बच्चों जैसी खुशी और मासूमियत का प्रतिनिधित्व करती है। खेल में गेंद की हार के विपरीत मनुष्य का भोला चरित्र होता है। एक बार खो जाने के बाद हम अपनी बेगुनाही वापस नहीं पा सकते।

कवि के अनुसार संसार भौतिक वस्तुओं से भरा पड़ा है। एक गेंद को खोने के समान, लोग लगातार अन्य वस्तुओं को खो देंगे। वे सांसारिक वस्तुओं से भावनात्मक रूप से जुड़ जाते हैं, हालांकि वे क्षणिक होते हैं। लड़के को उनके बिना जीना सीखना चाहिए। कवि घोषणा करता है कि कुछ भी वापस नहीं किया जा सकता है। पैसा एक बाहरी वस्तु है। अकेले पैसे से सब कुछ नहीं खरीदा जा सकता। गेंद हारने के बाद युवा खिलाड़ी अपनी निराशा से आगे निकलने की कोशिश कर रहा है और अनुभव से सीख रहा है। जीवन की कठिनाइयों को स्वीकार कर और वापस उठकर, वह जीवन के सही अर्थ को समझने का प्रयास कर रहा है। हर कोई इस अप्रिय वास्तविकता का पता लगाता है कि देर-सबेर दुख जीवन का एक आवश्यक हिस्सा है।

The Ball Poem Summary And The Ball Poem Summary Stanza Wise: Explanation

What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go                         
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over — there it is in the water!

Literary devices:
Anaphora: use of repeated words in two or more lines (What is the boy… what, what and merrily bouncing merrily over)
Assonance: repeated use of vowel ‘o’ (boy, now, who, lost)
Imagery: when poet says merrily bouncing down the street
repetition: ‘what’ is repeated

No use to say ‘O there are other balls’:
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down 
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him;
A dime, another ball, is worthless now
He senses first responsibility

Literary devices:
Repetition: use of word ‘ball’
Asyndeton: no use of conjunction in a sentence (A dime, another ball, is worthless)

In a world of possessions. People will take
Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy.
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.

He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.

Literary devices:
Alliteration: use of sound ‘b’ at the start of two consecutive words (buys a ball back)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ (He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes)
Repetition: ‘ball’ word is repeated.

Also read: class 7 English honeycomb unit 9 poem garden snake

The Ball Poem Summary Questions and Answers

Conclusion Of The Ball Poem

From the article on The Ball Poem Summary, the poet successfully describes how we may feel to lose something that we love and grow up eventually without it. This also displays how life is meant to be, where we will eventually lose a lot of things as we grow older. We suggest you to browse through our various articles containing summary and explanation of other poems.

Also read: class 7 English honeycomb unit 9 poem garden snake