NCERT Solutions Class 10 English (First Flight)
The NCERT Solutions in English Language for Class 10 English (First Flight) Poem – 5 The Ball Poem has been provided here to help the students in solving the questions from this exercise.
Poem – 5 (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.
– JOHN BERRYMAN
Thinking about the Poem
1. Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?
Answer – The poet says, “I would not intrude on him” because the boy is shaken by the loss of his ball. The poet emphasises this loss. This loss can’t be compensated with any money or anything. So he doesn’t give the boy money.
2. “ …. 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 days when he played with it?
Answer – Yes, the boy had it for a long time. It is seen in ‘staring down/All his young days…’ The boy’s staring into the harbour shows one thing. It is that the ball had links to the memories of many days.
3. What does “in the world of possessions” mean?
Answer – It means the world of materialism. In it one’s possessions carry importance. It is also of consumerism.
4. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the Words that suggest the answer.
Answer – 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’.
5. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.
Answer – The poet says that the boy is learning the nature of the loss. It is in the loss of the ball. Actually, the boy is shaken in the loss. Now he tries to understand its emotional implication.
6. Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph describing how you felt then, and saying whether — and how — you got over your loss.
Answer – Yes, I have lost many things during the past years. I loved my favourite shirt. I loved it very much. It had a very pleasing colour. It had been stitched as if for me only. Its cloth was very smooth and lovely. It looked very nice on my body. I lay worried for many days at this loss. It couldn’t simply be out of my mind. I felt shaken. I tried to forget it. But I could not. Only after many months would I be able to forget it.
