English Notes Latest Questions

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  1. Rishika KM
    Rishika KM

    Here in the poem "The Ball Poem" the boy was playing with a ball . Suddenly the ball jumps into the water and he lost it. This created  a situation where he can learn about epistemology if loss. This was a good opportunity for him to learn about life and it's bitter truth. This is a very important lRead more

    • Here in the poem “The Ball Poem” the boy was playing with a ball .
    • Suddenly the ball jumps into the water and he lost it.
    • This created  a situation where he can learn about epistemology if loss.
    • This was a good opportunity for him to learn about life and it’s bitter truth.
    • This is a very important lesson for him as he must understand that moving on and overcoming is qn essential part of life and can’t stay like this.
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    • 1
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  1. Poonam Sharma
    Poonam Sharma literarian

    The title of the poem i.e. The Ball Poem is very symbolic and has deep meaning behind it. A young child who is not aware of harsh realities of life. He keeps enjoying by playing with his ball. He develops an emotional attachment with it. Hence, when he loses the ball, he gets sorrowful and sad. He wRead more

    The title of the poem i.e. The Ball Poem is very symbolic and has deep meaning behind it. A young child who is not aware of harsh realities of life. He keeps enjoying by playing with his ball. He develops an emotional attachment with it.

    Hence, when he loses the ball, he gets sorrowful and sad. He will not feel good even if a new ball is given to him because money cannot buy emotions and attachment.

    In this Ball also symbolises the things which a person has and loses someday. It symbolises poet’s father who committed suicide when the poet was 11 years old.

    Read summary of this poem.

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    • 27
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  1. Poonam Sharma
    Best Answer
    Poonam Sharma literarian

    The Ball Poem is a very symbolic poem with many hidden meanings and ideas. If we simply read the poem, we find that it is about a child who has lost a ball and is quite sad because he was attached to it. The poet feels useless to buy him a new ball because money cannot buy emotions which the young bRead more

    The Ball Poem is a very symbolic poem with many hidden meanings and ideas. If we simply read the poem, we find that it is about a child who has lost a ball and is quite sad because he was attached to it. The poet feels useless to buy him a new ball because money cannot buy emotions which the young boy had with the ball.

    If we go deeper into the poem, we find that the poem is about accepting the harsh realities of life and move on. The poet suggests that every person in the world has his possessions which he loved. But someday we have to lose them. Hence we should be read to face that moment and move on. This is the maturity. A person who can move on can sustain on earth and live a better life.

    When we go more deep into the poem, we find that it is biographical in nature. The poet is actually talking about himself. The young boy nobody else but poet and the ball represents his father who committed suicide when the poet was 11 years old. The poet is depressed because money cannot bring back his dead father. However he tries to move on.

    But the poet also accepts the fact that the memories of his father always remain his mind. He often feels dilemma. He does not know whether he should cry for his father or move on.

    Read summary of this poem.

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    • 11
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  1. Poonam Sharma
    Poonam Sharma literarian

    The Ball Poem is written in Blank Verse. A Blank Verse is poem without a proper rhyme scheme.  The Ball Poem is written in a long single stanza having 25 lines. Read summary of this poem.

    The Ball Poem is written in Blank Verse. A Blank Verse is poem without a proper rhyme scheme.  The Ball Poem is written in a long single stanza having 25 lines.

    Read summary of this poem.

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  1. Poonam Sharma
    Poonam Sharma literarian

    The message of the poem The Ball Poem is that we get things in our life which become a part of our lives. We feel that they will always remain with us. Thus we form an attachment with them. However a day comes when the thing is no more with us. At such a situation, we feel depressed and hopeless. AcRead more

    The message of the poem The Ball Poem is that we get things in our life which become a part of our lives. We feel that they will always remain with us. Thus we form an attachment with them. However a day comes when the thing is no more with us.

    At such a situation, we feel depressed and hopeless. According to the poet, losing our possessions is a harsh reality of our life on earth. We cannot get away from it. Hence we have to face such a situation and then try to move on.

    Read summary of this poem.

     

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    • 110
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  1. Poonam Sharma
    Poonam Sharma literarian

    In this phrase, the literary device used is called apostrophe. It is not the apostrophe (punctuation mark i.e. '). It is a figure of speech and a type of metaphor in which the poet addresses a person who is either absent from the scene or dead. In the poem, the poet is addressing the little boy whoRead more

    In this phrase, the literary device used is called apostrophe. It is not the apostrophe (punctuation mark i.e. ‘). It is a figure of speech and a type of metaphor in which the poet addresses a person who is either absent from the scene or dead. In the poem, the poet is addressing the little boy who is physically not present there.

    Read summary of this poem.

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    • 6
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  1. Poonam Sharma
    Best Answer
    Poonam Sharma literarian

    Following literary devices have been used in the poem The Ball Poem: Personification: Personification is a finger of speech which shows attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human. In the poem, the poet describes ball merrily bouncing down the street. Merry meansRead more

    Following literary devices have been used in the poem The Ball Poem:

    1. Personification: Personification is a finger of speech which shows attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human. In the poem, the poet describes ball merrily bouncing down the street. Merry means happy. It is a human characteristic which is given to the ball.
    2. Metaphor: It is a literary device in which a word or phrase is symbolically applied to a thing to which it is not literally applicable. In the poem, poet says, “balls will be lost always“. Balls here symbolise possessions which we lose. It also refers to the childhood which if lost never comes back.
    3. Apostrophe: It is a literary device in which a person is addressed who is either dead or physically not present. In the poem, the poet says, “balls will be lost aways, little boy“. The boy is physically not present with the poet.
    4. Repetition: It is a literary device in which a word or phrase is repeated two or more times. In the poem the poet repeats the word “what” two lines. “what, what is he to do?”.
    5. Alliteration: It is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. e.g. “who has lost his ball”, “what, what is he to do?”, “no one buys a ball back”, “the deep and dark floor of harbour”, “move my mind and my heart move with all that move me”.
    6. Enjambment: It is the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. e.g. “I saw it go merrily, down the street”
    7. Symbolism: It is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. In the poem, ball and balls represent childhood, possessions and even the father of poet.

    Read summary of this poem.

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  1. Athar
    Athar

    In the poem,  The Ball Poem, the lost ball is a symbol for lost childhood because it depicts innocence, attachment and something which if gone never returns back. The poet believes that childhood and its innocence cannot be bought with money. It is something that a person often thinks of and becomesRead more

    In the poem,  The Ball Poem, the lost ball is a symbol for lost childhood because it depicts innocence, attachment and something which if gone never returns back. The poet believes that childhood and its innocence cannot be bought with money. It is something that a person often thinks of and becomes sad.

    Read summary of this poem.

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    • 7
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  1. Athar
    Athar

    In the poem The Ball Poem, balls signify the innocence of the young boy, his childhood and the sweet memories associated with it. Read summary of this poem.

    In the poem The Ball Poem, balls signify the innocence of the young boy, his childhood and the sweet memories associated with it.

    Read summary of this poem.

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