The Ball Poem class 10 NCERT solution

The Ball Poem class 10 NCERT solution :The Ball Poem is a poem from class 10 NCERT English main textbook First Flight. The Ball Poem is composed by poet John Berryman. Here, you'll get The Ball Poem ncert solutions. 

The Ball Poem class 10 NCERT questions answers

The Ball Poem describes the grief of a boy at the loss of his ball. With the loss of his ball he senses his first responsibilty. It teaches us to learn to accept and let go and not cling onto something that we can never have.

Here, in this post you'll get read important points related to the poem The Ball Poem.

The Ball Poem summary in English

The poem The "The Ball Poem " deals , A boy loses a ball in the water. He is very upset. Though the ball does not cost too much it gives a big shock to him. He keeps staring at the place where his ball has lost. The poet sees all this but he doesn’t interfere with the boy’s ruminations. 

The poet thinks that the loss of the ball will teach the boy a lesson of accepting the loss with tolerance and pleasure and responsibility.

Everyone has to lose something or the other in this world still they are to survive and fulfill their obligations. This loss makes the boy learn that gains and losses are part and parcel of life.

One should accept them as a common matter. life is very short, we should move on as there is no use of wasting precious time and life.

The true theme of the poem is that we should cherish & enjoy every moment of life.

The Ball Poem summary in English

"The Ball Poem" कविता, एक लड़का पानी में एक गेंद खो देता है।  वह बहुत परेशान है।  हालांकि गेंद पर बहुत अधिक खर्च नहीं होता है लेकिन यह उसे एक बड़ा झटका देता है।  वह उस जगह को घूरता रहता है, जहां उसकी गेंद खो गई है।  कवि यह सब देखता है, लेकिन वह लड़के की रूढ़ियों के साथ हस्तक्षेप नहीं करता है।

कवि सोचता है कि गेंद की हानि लड़के को सहिष्णुता और खुशी और जिम्मेदारी के साथ नुकसान को स्वीकार करने का सबक सिखाएगी।

इस दुनिया में हर किसी को कुछ न कुछ खोना पड़ता है फिर भी उन्हें अपने दायित्वों को निभाना और पूरा करना है।  यह नुकसान लड़के को सीख देता है कि लाभ और हानि जीवन का हिस्सा और पार्सल हैं।

उन्हें एक सामान्य बात के रूप में स्वीकार करना चाहिए।  जीवन बहुत छोटा है, हमें आगे बढ़ना चाहिए क्योंकि कीमती समय और जीवन बर्बाद करने का कोई फायदा नहीं है।

कविता का असली विषय यह है कि हमें जीवन के हर पल का आनंद लेना चाहिए।

The Ball Poem explanation

• Stanza 1:

What is the boy now, who has lost his ball, 
What, what is he to do ? I was it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over - there it is in the water ! 
No use to say ' O there are other balls:

Explanation: The poem is about a little boy. For the first time in his young life, he is learning what it is like to experience grief at loss of a much loved possession, that is, his ball. Here the balm symbolises the sweet memories of his childhood. The boy loses his ball and watches it bouncing down the street into the water. To us, the loss of a ball is of minor consequence but  to the little boy, it was a valued possession. The poet here, deters himself from saying that there are other balls because the boy wants the same ball. The ball had been with him for a long time and it was linked to the memories of the days when he played with it. The boy's ball personifies his young days and happy innocence.

• Stanza 2

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. 

Explanation: When the young boy loses his ball. It bounces away and lands in the harbour. The boy is very much troubled at the loss of his ball and plunges into grief.

His stands stiff and trembling while staring at his ball. He is upset as he looks into the gloomy water because he cannot find the ball. The boy is deeply affected by the loss of his ball because it has been with him dor a long time. When the ball bounces into the water all his memories of the childhood days flashes in front of him. This leads to a realisation that those moments would not come back, just like the ball. Further the poet doesn't offer him money to buy another ball because that would be worthless.

• Stanza 3

Now He senses first responsibility
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. 

Explanation: The boy is upset when he looks into the gloomy water because he cannot find the ball. This is when he gets his first sense of responsibility. The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the  boy is learning what it means to lose something 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 he had lost. In this poem, the boy's ball personifies his young days and happy innocence.

The poet makes the boy understand about his responsibility as the loss is immaterial. Money is external as it cannot buy memories, nor can it replace the things that we love, the things that really matter.

• Stanza 4

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

Explanation: The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning how to stand up in a world of possessions. 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.

The Ball Poem poetic devices used in the poem

Blank Verse The poem is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Consider the following lines from the poem
What is the boy now, who has lost his ball
What, what is he to do ? I saw it go
Merrily bounching, down the street, and then Merrily over - there it is in the water !

Symbolism A figure of speech where an object, person or situation has another meaning other than its literal meaning.
• the ball symbolises the boy's young and innocent days.

Repetition Repetition of words / phrases in the same line.
• what, what
• Balls, balls

Alliteration Repetition of initial consonant sounds in the same line
• what, what
• balls, balls
• buys a ball back

The Ball Poem textbook questions answers CBSE |HSLC SEBA Class 10

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 would 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 also doesn't offer him money to buy another ball because that would be worthless. He wants the boy to learn the lesson of responsibility and bear with the loss.

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 when he played with it ? 
Ans: Yes, The boy has had the ball for a long time. When it bounced into the water, all his childhood memories flashed infront of him. This led to a realisation that those moments would not come back, just like the ball. He can buy a new ball and can similarly create new moments, but those that are gone would not return.

Q3. What does "in the world of possessions" mean ? 
Ans: In the world of possessions means that the world is full of materialistic things. Here everything and every action is made to possess something, whether it is the possession of land, money, property etc. Poet suggest 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.

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 ' he 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 says that the boy is learning to cope up with the loss of the ball. He is experiencing grief and learning to grow up in this world of possessions. He learns that there are so many things in life that are lost and cannot be brought back again. He is learning his first responsibility as he has lost his ball. The boy will learn how to stand up and leave the losses behind as he understood the true meaning of loss.

The Ball Poem short questions answers

Q1. Why did the boy feel so sad at the loss of his ball ? 
Ans: When the boy lost the ball, he plunged in grief. He stood staring down the harbour where his ball was lost. The boy was affected profoundly by the loss of his ball because it had been with him for a long time. It was linked to the memories of the days when he played with it.

Q2. Why does the poet think that it is useless to give the following suggestion to the boy ? 'No use to say - O there are other balls'. 
Ans: According to the poet, it is useless to console the boy by saying that he can get another ball in place of the lost one. The boy had a long association with the ball. It was, thus, useless to give him such a suggestion because he wanted to get back the ball that he had lost.

Q3. How does the boy feel at the loss of his ball ? 
Ans: The boy is very upset and troubled at the loss of his ball. He experiences grief at the loss of his much loved possession. He stares at the ball with his desperate eyes. He finds it difficult to cope up with the loss.

The Ball Poem long questions answers

Q1. Money, though is very important in our life, but it can not replace everything. Explain. 
Ans: Money, is very important in everyone's life but the poem teaches us one thing more. Money is external because it can not buy everything that one loses. The poem can be interpreted both literally and metaphorically. Literally, it is a picture of little boy growing up and learning to deal with his first loss. Metaphorically it is the story of mankind learning to deal with the loss of their loved ones. It is here where money can not bring back our loved ones, we must learn to cope up with these personal losses. Money can not bring our loved ones from the cluthes of death. Loss of a loved one can spell a period of intense grief and depression for some of us. Money can not provide any relief from this  situation. The moral is that we should stop running madly after money.

Q2. Why it is important for everyone to experience loss and to stand up after it ? 
Ans: It is important for everyone to experience loss and to stand up after it in order to be strong and to get on with life. One needs to stay strong no matter how much it hurts inside. Staying strong is the only way to survive. Moreover, one needs to learn to accept and let go and not cling to something that they can never have. One should understand that the past is gone and it will never come back. Experiencing loss sometimes helps us to grow up and face hardships. This helps us in breaking all the boundaries into freedom. The poem teaches us a philosophy of life through the loss of ball. Loss is a universal truth in our life. This is very essential for every human being to be able to move on or standing up after a person has fallen or being knocked down. Here ball signifies losing something valuable that can not be bought or replaced. The poet wants us to understand that loss is inevitable and everyone must learn to cope up with the loss with patience and courage.

The Ball Poem extra questions answers SEBA HSLC 2023

Q1. 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 dlime, another ball, is worthless.
(a) Where had the boy’s ball gone ?
(b) How has the loss affected the boy ?
(c) Why was ‘he’ trembling, staring down ?
(d) What does the poet mean by ‘first responsibility’ ?

Ans:
(a) The boy’s ball went into the dark waters of the harbour.
(b) The boy is very much troubled at the loss of his ball. He stands still, trembling and staring at his ball.
(c) He was trembling, staring down as he had lost his ball.
(d) By ‘First responsibility’, he, means to look after his things properly.

Q2. 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.
(a) What is the boy learning ?
(b) Why are boy’s eyes desperate ?
(c) What do you mean by ‘epistemology of loss’ ?
(d) What every man needs to know one day ?

Ans: 
(a) The boy is learning to cope up with the loss.
(b) Boy’s eyes looks desperate as he is sad to see his ball gone forever.
(c) ‘Epistemology of loss’ means to understand the nature of loss.
(d) Every man needs to know one day that loss may occur to him and he would have to bear it up.

Q3. 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! No use to say – ‘O there are other balls’     CBSE 2012
(a) What has happened to the boy ?
(b) Why does the poet say ‘No use to say – ‘O there are other balls’ ?
(c) Which word means ‘happily’ ?
(d) Where did the ball go ?

Ans: 
(a) The boy was very sad as he had lost his ball.
(b) The poet says so as the loss of the ball is of a major consequence to the boy.
(c) Merrily means happily.
(d) The ball went to the water.

Q4. ……………Now
He senses first responsibility
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.           CBSE 2014
(a) What does the boy understand ?
(b) What does the word ‘balls’ signify ?
(c) What is meant by the word ‘possessions’ ?
(d) What does “In a world of possessions mean ?”

Ans:
(a) The boy learns to grow up and understands his first responsibility.
(b) ‘Balls’ signify the boys’ innocence and happy young days.
(c) ‘Possessions’ means something that is owned or possessed.
(d) It means that everybody loves to possess things or materials in their names.

The Ball Poem important questions answers

Q1. What does John Berryman want to convey through this poem ? CBSE 2011 
Ans: Poet John Berryman wants to convey the importance of loss and responsibility in life. We all should learn our responsibility and how to cope up with the loss. The poet also wants us to learn that things will get lost from time to time and money cannot replace them.

Q2. Money is external, What does the poet mean by this expression ? CBSE 2014 
Ans: The poet makes the boy understood about his responsibility as the loss is immaterial. Not every loss can be replaced by money. Money is external as it cannot buy memories, nor can it replace the things that we love.

Q3. Why did the poet not offer the boy money to buy another ball ? CBSE 2015 
Ans: The poet watched the boy who had plunged in grief at the loss of his ball. He did not offer the boy money • to buy another ball. He felt that another ball could not console the boy. It seemed that the boy had the ball for a long time. The poet also wanted the boy to realise the epistemology of loss.

Q4. Write the sum and substance of the poem The Ball Poem ? CBSE 2016 
Ans: In The poem The Ball Poem, poet tells us about how our childhood can quickly fly by as quickly as a ball is lost and how we sometimes unsuspectingly must grow up and face hardship, like loss.