The Ball Poem - A poem by John Berryman

John Berryman - The Ball Poem

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':
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
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
And gradually light returns to the street
A whistle blows, the ball is out of sight,
Soon part of me will explore the deep and dark
Floor of the harbour . . I am everywhere,
I suffer and move, my mind and my heart move
With all that move me, under the water
Or whistling, I am not a little boy.

Added: on October 28th, 2005 at 1:32 PM | Viewed: 4565 times | Comments and analysis of The Ball Poem by John Berryman Comments (7)

The Ball Poem - Comments and Information
Poet: John Berryman Poem: The Ball Poem Volume: Collected Poems 1937-1971 Comment 7 of 7, added on June 3rd, 2007 at 4:01 PM. See how you laugh at the poem when you get a little older and begin to understand what it's about. Age happens to everybody, and it is unfortunate you are considered an AP student, in my opinion. As for your teacher, he or she is the only "atrocious excuse" I see from your post and probably belongs in a high school, among such delusional idiots as you and your "gifted" fellow students. Cswart from United States Comment 6 of 7, added on May 10th, 2007 at 3:10 PM. Oh my Lord this poem is awesome. I especially loved the part about balls. I love balls. Espescially in my mouth. Suck on my chocolate salty balls Billy Bob from Canada Comment 5 of 7, added on October 28th, 2005 at 1:32 PM. Too true, Amish. This is a wonderful poem that expresses not only the loss of childhood, as fred said, but the feeling of loss that will plague a human for the rest of his life after learning "first responsibility in a world of possessions." Berryman says that one must resign oneself to such an idea of loss in order to continually pick oneself up and live. I love the alliteration at the end with the "m" sound. "I suffer and move, my mind and my heart move/with all that move me." How excellent is that! What a great feeling of movement as the subject of the poem is about suffering loss, yet continuing to move, to live, to accept more responsibility even if it is painful? Emily, I suggest you run as fast as you can away from the teacher that openly laughed with you about this poem in class and continue to explore poetry with poeple who don't substitute laughter for a genuine attempt at understanding. By the way, most good poetry is and always has been realized in the "attempt to make a trivial event seem meaningful"as you say. Good luck in the future, but get some help for your sake, please! sean from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, The Ball Poem, has received 7 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by John Berryman with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: John Berryman Poem: The Ball Poem Volume: Collected Poems 1937-1971 Last read: Jul 25 2008, 4:31PM Viewed 4565 times. Added on October 28th, 2005 at 1:32 PM.

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