The Ball Poem 
-John Berryman

1. Choose the correct answer:

(i) The word ‘rigid’ means: hslc-2023

(a) flux 

(b) soft 

(c) hard 

(d) dry 

Ans:- (c) hard

(ii) The world, as mentioned in ‘The Ball Poem’, is one of hslc-2023

(a) balls

(b) friends 

(c) fun

(d) possessions

Ans:- (d) possessions

(iii) Epistemology means:

(a) study of nature of knowledge

(b) nature of gain 

(c) nature of loss

(d) nature of balance

Ans:-(a) study of nature of knowledge

(iv) Losing the ball, the boy senses his first:

(a) responsibility

(b) possession

(c) inspiration

(d) action

Ans:-(a) responsibility

(v) The boy desperately wanted:

(a) a new ball 

(b) the lost ball

(c) money

(d) bat

Ans:-(b) the lost ball

(vi) Where did the boy lost the ball?

(a) puddle 

(b) well 

(c) water 

(d) forest

Ans:-(c) water 

(vii) The boy’s eyes were:

(a) brilliant

(b) teary

(c) dull

(d) desperate

Ans:-(d) desperate

(viii) How much did the ball cost?

(a) ten dimes 

(b) five dimes

(c) one dime

(d) two dimes

Ans:-(c) one dime

(ix) What is a dime?

(a) five cents 

(b) ten cents

(c) five pounds

(d) ten pounds

Ans:-(b) ten cents

2. Word meaning

Merrily happily

Grief-sorrow

Bouncing- jumping

Dime-coin

Intrude-enter forcibly

Desperate- hopeless

Epistemology of loss-nature of loss.

3. “…there it is in water”. What does ‘it’ refer to here? hslc-2023

Ans:- ‘It’ refers here to the ball that the boy has lost in the water.

4. Why is the boy so upset?

Ans:- The boy is so upset because he has lost his ball.

5. What is the ultimate shaking grief? 

Ans:- The ultimate shaking grief is the unbearable sorrow of the boy on losing the ball. 

6. Where has the boy lost his ball? 

Ans:- The boy is playing near a harbour. During his play he has lost his ball.

7. What does “In the world of possession” mean?

Ans:- “In the world of possession” means the world of materialism.

8. What do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.

Ans:- No, I don’t think the boy has lost anything earlier. The words that suggest this are ‘senses first responsibility in a world of possessions’. 

9. What fixes the boy when he loses the ball? 

Ans:- An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy. 

10. Why does the poet say-“No use of saying ‘O there are other balls’?

Ans:- The poet says so because there is no use of consoling the boy. A new ball will not compensate his loss as he was attached with the lost one.

11. Why is money called external?

Ans:- Money is called external because it can only buy materialistic things but cannot compensate one’s loss.

12. How was the boy’s reaction to the loss of the ball?

Ans:- The boy was sad and troubled at the loss of the ball. He stood there trembling and stared at the water.

13. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.

Ans:- According to the poet the boy has learnt the nature of the loss and how to cope with it. From the loss of the ball, he experiences grief and learns that nothing can be possessed permanently.

14. …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 the days when he played with it?

Ans:- Yes, I think the boy has had the ball for a long time. As the boy stares into the harbour, all the fond memories of his childhood flash through his mind. He realises that like the lost ball, all his memories cannot come back.

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

Ans:- The poet says this because for the first time, the boy experiences the grief of losing something i.e. his ball. The poet thinks that this loss cannot be compensated with money. Money cannot buy everything. So he does not offer any money to buy another ball.

Mr. Rupjyoti Goswami
Post Graduate Teacher (English)
Bhogeswar Hazarika Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Bebejia, Nagaon, Assam.
Email: rupjyotigoswami983@gmail.com
Mobile: 9864425896.