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    Notes- The Ball Poem

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    aundhakarshrawani23
    Notes

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    Notes- The Ball Poem

    Uploaded by

    aundhakarshrawani23
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    Notes

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    Notes

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    0 views2 pages

    Notes- The Ball Poem

    Uploaded by

    aundhakarshrawani23
    Notes

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    The Ball Poem (Poem)

    Thinking about the poem : Page Number : 47

    Q1: Why does the poet say, "I would not intrude on him"? Why doesn't he offer him
    money to buy another ball?
    Ans: The poet says "I will not intrude on him" because he does not want to intervene in the
    natural process of learning. He wants the boy to learn the meaning of loss on his own. He does
    not offer him money to buy another ball because according to him, money or another ball is
    worthless. The boy was trying to understand his first responsibility as he had lost something,
    which could not be brought back.

    Q2. "… staring down/All his young days into the harbor 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?
    Ans: Yes, it seems like the boy has had the ball for a long time. When it bounced into the
    water, all his memories of the days of childhood flashed in front of him. This led to a
    realisation that those moments would not come back, just like the ball. He can buy new
    balls and can similarly create new moments, but those that are gone would not return.

    Q3. What does "in the world of possessions" mean?


    Ans: Here, "in the world of possessions" means the world where everything and every action
    is made to possess something, whether it is the possession of land, property, money, or
    any other thing. The poet suggests that losing a ball, which is a very small thing, would
    make the boy understand what it is like to lose something that one possessed. This
    would make the boy realise that this is a world of possessions and where one can
    possess more things by buying them, but one cannot buy what has been lost.

    Q4. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest
    the answer.
    Ans: No, it seems that the boy had not lost anything earlier. The words that suggest so are
    'senses first responsibility in a world of possessions'.

    Q5. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to
    explain this in your own words.
    Ans. 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. The poet says that money is something
    external and what he really wants the boy to understand is the meaning of loss. The boy
    is learning what it means to lose something. The poet says that knowing that every man
    has to stand up after such losses, the boy too will learn how to stand up and leave the
    losses behind as he would have understood the true meaning and nature of loss.

    Extra question:
    What is the main idea of the poem?
    Ans. The main idea of the poem is ‘the sense of loss in life’. The loss is a fact of life. The sooner
    man learns to tolerate it the better it is. When we lose something for the first time, we feel very
    sad. But later we learn to live with our loss. In this poem, the boy loses his ball. He is very sad.
    The poet can buy him another hall. But he does not want to do so. He wants the boy must learn
    the bitter truth of life that everyone can suffer the loss of something dear.

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