The Ball Poem

John Berryman

Introduction:

John Berryman, the poet of the poem ‘The Ball Poem’ describes the reality of life. We have to face the reality of losing something which we love. The poet tells about coping up with losses, sorrows, and miseries of life.

About the Poet:

John Allyn McAlpin Berryman was an American poet and scholar. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century. His best-known work is The Dream Songs. He won National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Bollingen Prize.

Summary and Theme:

This poem is about losing something which we love and then learning to grow up with the loss. It tells us about a boy, who is learning to experience grief for the first time in his life. The grief is a result of the loss of a dear possession, his ball. The loss of a ball may be a minor issue. We may feel that there are many more balls. So, why should the boy worry? But to the boy, losing the ball is something different. One may get another ball with a very less amount of money. A ball costs only a cent. But, money is external and not important here. Another ball or the money cannot buy back the much-loved ball. Nothing can replace the things we love after we lose them. We have to know the grief of loss and learn to live with it.

In this poem, the boy’s ball is compared to the poet’s youth. Those days were happy and innocent. The loss of the ball is the loss of innocence and happiness that are associated with youth. We cannot get them back. We have to get over the grief. We need to be strong and get on with our life, irrespective of the loss and sadness. This is the only way we will survive. We have to accept and let go.

The poet uses the imagery while telling how the ball implies the spirit of the boy’s childish innocence. We may visualize how the spirit of this little boy, like the ball, is sinking into the waters after slipping from his hands. It drifts further away. The boy has to live and grow with the loss and the sadness that it brings.

The lesson of accepting the harsh realities of life is taught to us in this poem. One day we will lose our loved ones and our loved things. The poem gives us a picture of boys growing up and learning to deal with the loss of their first possessions. At the same time, it tells us about mankind learning to deal with the loss of its loved things or people.

Meaning:

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!

merrily: cheerful

bouncing: jumping up and down

The poet is talking about a boy who has lost his ball. He wants to know about him and his reaction because he has lost his ball. Further, he asks to himself that what this boy will do after losing his ball. The poet has seen the ball going away from the boy. He says that the ball was cheerfully jumping up and down in the street. This means that when the ball skipped from the boy’s hand it went into the street and later on, it fell into the nearby river.

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

O there are other balls: The words suggest that the loss is not important enough to worry about

shaking grief: sadness which greatly affects the boy

rigid: stiff, fixed

trembling: shaking

(to) intrude on: here, to enter a situation where one is not welcome

a dime: ten cents (U.S.) one-tenth part of a dollar

harbour: dock, port

worthless: valueless, useless

The poet says that there is no benefit of consoling the boy by saying that he will get another ball because he has other balls too. He says so because the boy is feeling very sad. He is completely surrounded by sorrow.  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. The poet says that he can’t even tell the boy to take some money from him in order to buy another ball. He says so because the new ball will not bring the sense of belonging to the boy. Further, the poet says that the time has come for the boy to learn the responsibility of taking care of his things.

Literary devices:

Repetition: use of the 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.

possessions: ownership

external: Here, things with which feelings are not attached

desperate: hopeless

epistemology of loss: understanding the nature of loss — what it means to lose something

epistemology: The Greek word episteme means ‘knowledge’ (it comes from a word meaning ‘to understand, to know’). Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge itself.

Here the poet says that the boy has to learn that in this materialistic world, many of his belongings will be lost. He personifies the ball as his belongings, be it the worldly things or the relationships he is in possession of. So, he says that he has to learn to live without them no matter what. He says no one can buy back such things for him. The poet said so because according to him money can’t buy you everything. If it does buy you some materialistic things, still, it will not be able to buy the same sense of belongingness. He says that the boy is learning how to stand up against the sense of lost things. This means that the boy is trying to learn the real truth of life which states that you have to accept the miseries of life and stand up again. This is the truth, which everyone has to learn in his or her life. The harsh truth of standing up against the odd miseries of life that everyone has to bear.

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

Meaning of the poem:

The poet is talking about a little boy who has lost his ball. He was playing with his ball. The ball skipped from his hand and went into the nearby water body. The poet says that this sight of the boy losing his favorite ball made him think about the boy and his reaction to this situation. He further says that the boy was helplessly looking into the water where his ball had gone. He was sad and was trembling with fear. He got so immersed in his sorrow that he kept standing near the harbour for a very long time and kept on looking for his ball.

The poet says that he could console him that he may get new balls or he could also give him some money to buy another ball. But he stops himself from doing so because he thinks that the money may bring a new ball but will not bring the memories and feelings attached to the lost ball. He further says that the time has come for the boy to learn his responsibilities. Here the poet wants to say that now the boy will learn the toughest lesson of life. The lesson of accepting the harsh realities of life that one day we will lose our loved ones and our loved things.

Rhyming Scheme:

There is no rhyming scheme.

Textual Questions and Answers:

Q1. Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?

The poet does not want to intrude because he wants the boy to get a chance to learn the real truth of life. The boy has to learn to accept the loss. The loss here is symbolic. The ball represents an important thing or relationship.

Q2.  “… 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. We can say that the boy had the ball for a very long time. The line tells us how the boy recalls those days when he used to play with the ball. The ball is associated to many sweet memories.

Q3.  What does “in the world of possessions” mean?

Possession means something that is owned or possessed. In the world of possessions means the world which is full of materialistic things. Materialistic things bring comfort and luxury in our life.

Q4.  Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer?

No. I do not think that the boy has lost anything earlier. The line in the poem “now he senses his first responsibility’ clearly tells us the fact.

Q5.  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 tells us that the boy will learn the real, harsh truth of life. He will learn how to move on in life despite of incurring heavy losses. People experience this in life when they lose either something or someone. Lost things never come back is a reality that makes people strong enough to go on in life.

6. Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph describing how you felt then, and saying whether — and how — you got over your loss.

Yes. Once I lost something I liked very much. My pet dog, Lucky, passed away after being a member of our family for about eleven years. All our family members had an affectionate attachment with the dog. The dog was a part and parcel of our lives. We were very sad. We could not forget the dog’s memories. We were unable to bring another dog in its place. We felt sure that no other dog would bring us the same joy as Lucky did in our lives. No dog, however nice and loyal could replace its place in our hearts. Slowly, we came out of the sorrow. Now, whenever I think of the dog, a smile appears on my face in remembrance of the sweet days and memories I had with the dog.

Dust of Snow

Dust of Snow

Introduction:

The poem ‘Dust of Snow’ is Robert Frost’s well-known work. This poem presents a moment that seems simple but has a larger significance.  

 About the Poet:

Robert Frost was born in 1874 in San Francisco, California. He was an American poet much admired for his depictions of the rural life of New England and his command of American colloquial speech. Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime and is the only poet to receive four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 31 times. His most famous works include poems like "Fire and Ice", "The Road Not Taken", "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", ‘West-Running Brook’, "Acquainted with the Night", ‘The Lovely Shall Be Choosers’, ‘From Snow to Snow’ and many more.

 Summary:

Stanza 1

    The way a crow

    Shook down on me

    The dust of snow

    From a hemlock tree

 

Meaning Stanza 1: The crow is commonly regarded as a symbol of death and fear and is not associated with goodness. But, in these lines, a complete irony is depicted where it is doing a good deed by shaking off the snow. Here, the poet has not chosen trees like oak, maple, or pine. Instead, he chose the hemlock tree which is usually associated with poison and toxicity. So, in this stanza, the beautiful snow sitting on the branches of the poisonous hemlock tree is shaken off by a crow.

 

Stanza 2

    Has given my heart

    A change of mood

    And saved some part

    Of a day I had rued

 

Meaning Stanza 2:  From the lines, it’s clearly understood that the poet was going through a bad mood. He had not been looking forward to that day and the day was not turning out any better than he had expected either. But, the crow descending on the Hemlock tree changes it all. Here, the poet uses the elements of the fearsome crow and poisonous Hemlock tree to shake the white, pure snow off the branches. Robert Frost has also used a bit of irony here by referring to the poisonous Hemlock and the medicinal Rue. As soon as the snow fell on him, the poet’s otherwise bad mood was uplifted. He was filled with joy and a sense of thankfulness that he was alive to see such beautiful things in this world.

 

Meanings of words and phrases:

mood: a temporary state of mind or feeling

rued: to feel regret, remorse or pity

 

Theme:

In “Dust of Snow”, the poet is trying to tell us that on a cold winter’s day, he went out. At such a time, the only thing that cheers him up is the world of nature. This natural world is available for us to see and touch-free of cost. However, we generally take it for granted. Worse still, we can curse nature for giving us bad weather. However, if we look beyond our own inconvenience, we will see that nature is beautiful even at its harshest. If only we pay attention to all that life gives us, we will learn to appreciate it. The crow is what brings the beauty of the snowflakes to the poet’s attention, and for that, he is grateful. He is grateful to be alive to see such wonderful sights in this world at no cost whatsoever to himself.

  Conclusion:

The poem reiterates that the little things in life can make huge changes in our future. It also shows that if we can take the hard times of life in stride, eventually something will happen to change our situation into happier times. The simple things we do for others can make all the difference. Just think about those random acts of kindness we do and how much they brighten a person’s day and sometimes change their future. Noticing and appreciating all the small things in life will make your life happier. It will also cause you to have a spirit willing to change and succeed.

 Dust of Snow Literary Devices:

 1. Alliteration- the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

 The instances of alliteration are as follows-

     Has given my heart

    And saved some part

 2. inversion – when the structure of a sentence is changed by the poet to create a rhyme, this poetic license is called inversion. In stanza 1, inversion can be seen.

 3. assonance – the prominence of a vowel sound throughout a line is called assonance. In stanza 1, line 2 –  “Shook down on me” – ‘o’ sound is prominent.

enjambment – when the same sentence continues to the next line without the use of any punctuation marks, it is called enjambment. It has been used throughout the poem.

 3. Synecdoche: Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

     Has given my heart

 

Rhyming Words:

 Stanza 1 – crow - snow, me – tree;

Stanza 2 – heart - part; mood - rued

 Rhyme Scheme:

abab – cdcd

Answers to textual questions:

 Q1. What is a “dust of snow”? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has the poet’s mood changed?

 A. “Dust of snow” means tiny particles of snow. The poet was in a bad mood when particles of snow had fallen on him. This changed the poet’s mood immediately. His day got better.

  Q 2. How does Frost present nature in this poem? The following questions may help you to think of an answer.

 (i) What are the birds that are usually named in poems? Do you think a crow is often mentioned in poems? What images come to your mind when you think of a crow?

 A. Birds like sparrows, nightingales, and peacocks are often named in poems. I don’t think that a crow is often mentioned in poems. Crows are often seen as indicators of doom and fear. I get negative images when I think of a crow.

  (ii) Again, what is “a hemlock tree”? Why doesn’t the poet write about a more ‘beautiful’ tree such as a maple, or an oak, or a pine?

 A. A hemlock tree is a poisonous tree. The poet does not mention a more ‘beautiful’ tree such as maple, oak, or pine because he wants to indicate a sad scene. As a hemlock tree is considered bad the poet refers to it.

  (iii) What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent — joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for?

 A. Both crow and the hemlock tree represent sorrow. Frost has used both the negative creatures as the carriers of positivism and strength that transformed his day for the better. The dust of snow shaken by the crow stands for positivity and hope.

Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice

Introduction:

Apocalypse is the day when the world would end.  Some people believe that the world would end as a result of global warming and some are of the view that it may end as a result of extreme freezing. Looking at the current climatic conditions of the world, both seem possible. But, there are chances that the world may disintegrate due to many other reasons, like greed, hatred, unwanted desires, and other vices. That’s what Robert Frost tries to convey in his poem, ‘Fire and Ice’.  

 About the Poet:

Robert Frost was born in 1874 in San Francisco, California. He was an American poet much admired for his depictions of the rural life of New England and his command of American colloquial speech. His poem “My Butterfly” gave him his status as a professional poet. Frost s first book was published when he was about 40. Later he went on to win a record four Pulitzer Prizes. He also became the most famous poet of his time. Frost was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 31 times. His most famous works include poems like "Fire and Ice", "The Road Not Taken", "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", ‘West-Running Brook’, "Acquainted with the Night", ‘The Lovely Shall Be Choosers’, ‘From Snow to Snow’ and many more. He also wrote some famous plays like, ‘A Way Out’, ‘The Cow s in the Corn’, ‘A Masque of Reason’, ‘A Masque of Mercy’, etc.

 Summary

Fire and Ice is a lyric of nine lines by Robert Frost. The poet feels that the world will one day be consumed by excess of fire. But the poet also thinks that if the world were to end twice even ice could destroy the world, and there was sufficient ice for this. 

Symbolically, fire stands for extreme intensity of emotions while ice stands for complete lack of feelings. Greed and hatred are symbolized as fire and ice. 

Both are equally disastrous as they and both have the power to destroy the world. The last line of the poem makes us feel that the poem does not question either the existence or the capability of these powers. He is conscious of the ruinous capacities of these two powers.

 Stanza 1

Some say the world will end in fire

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favour fire.

Meaning:

The first two lines throw light on the debate in society on how the world will end. Scientifically, ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for nuclear disaster and climate change. But, Frost’s use of ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ is largely metaphoric. Ice and fire are opposites of one another. This suggests that most people have entirely opposing views on the end of the world. Ice and fire also represent two extremes which could cause immense damage.

Stanza 2

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Meaning:

Just like the burning desires are dangerous for the poet, the ice is also a concern in his mind. He believes that the world will end, in one form or the other. If fire isn’t enough to complete the task, then ice would perform it equally well. In contrast to a burning flame, the chilling ice represents hatred to the poet. He believes that it is something that would chill the world, slow it down, and isolate each individual enough that the human race simply wouldn’t survive it. There’s no doubt that he believes in the destructive power of fire, but he sees no reason not to believe that ice would end the world just as easily.

Meanings of words and phrases:

tasted: to have experience of something

desire: a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen

favour: to feel or show approval or preference for something

perish: a slow, gradual, nonviolent death

suffice: to be enough or adequate

Figures of Speech (Literary Devices)

 1. Alliteration: The occurrence of the same consonant letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words is called Alliteration.

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

I hold with those who favor fire.

2. Hyperbole: Hyperbole is an overstatement that exaggerates a particular condition for emphasis.

But if it had to perish twice

 3. Metaphor: Metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.

I think I know enough of hate

Rhyming Words:

Stanza 1 – fire - desire - fire

Stanza 2 – twice - ice – suffice

Rhyme Scheme:

abaa – ababa

 Symbolism:

The poet uses fire as a symbol of desire and passion, and ice as a symbol of hatred. These are, in fact, symbols for human behaviour and emotions. These symbols can be applied into our daily life as a warning against vices of desire and hatred in a personal connection.

Theme:

The theme of the poem is the destructiveness of the passions of love and hate. Symbolically, fire stands for the heat of love and passion, while ice for the cold of hate. The last line confirms the poet s belief in both the passions possessing enormous destructive power. These passions are inevitable in the drama of human life. In this poem, Frost makes provision for opposite views. He shows himself in agreement with those who believe that the world will end in fire and with those who believe that the world will end in ice. From the poem, it is clear that the poet does not want to load his beliefs or views upon his readers. He rather vaguely suggests them to entertain the views of others, even if they are diverse in nature. We also find an analysis of one s life. If a person is obsessed with unhealthy desires like power, greed, etc., then they will face the fiery end. If a person is jealous and full of hatred, he will demise with the cold that is coldness of love.