The Boy's Transformation: A Poem about Responsibility and Loss

A boy is undergoing a transformation as he comes to the realization of responsibility, particularly in this world where everything is temporary and nothing is permanent. The poet highlights this idea by stating that "nothing is permanent" and "the loss of things is but natural." This understanding dawns on the boy as he begins to grasp the reality of life, where things are fleeting and can be lost at any moment.

The Ball: A Symbol of Material Possessions

The ball, which is mentioned in the poem, serves as a symbol for material possessions. The poet emphasizes that all these possessions will eventually be lost, and they cannot be replaced or brought back once they are gone. This theme is reinforced by the line "money is external again," highlighting the transience of monetary wealth and power. The ball represents the things we own, which we think are ours forever, but ultimately belong to someone else at some point in time.

The Hard Reality of Life

The poem conveys a hard reality that every person must learn to accept: losses are an inevitable part of life. The poet stresses this idea by saying "every man must know one day" and "many of us already know it." Those who have lost precious things or dear ones in life can easily understand the meaning behind these words. No matter how hard we try, we cannot bring back what is lost; instead, we must learn to accept our circumstances and move forward.

Developing the Quality of Acceptance

The poem offers a valuable lesson: we should develop the quality of acceptance. Rather than repining over losses or regrets, we should welcome our future and live in the present. This mindset allows us to appreciate the time that is slipping away from us without breaking. By accepting our losses and focusing on the present moment, we can cultivate a sense of hope and resilience.

Epistemology of Loss: Knowing What Every Man Must Know

The poem touches on the concept of epistemology of loss, which refers to the science of knowledge about loss. The poet is saying that it is essential for every person to learn how to stand up again after facing loss or hardship. This learning process involves understanding that losses are a natural part of life and that we must develop coping mechanisms to deal with them.

The Boy's Desperate Eyes

Despite the boy's hopeless eyes, which convey sadness and despair, there is also hope in his desperate gaze. The poet sees an opportunity for growth and transformation in this moment. The boy is learning a valuable lesson about loss and acceptance, and it is essential for him to grasp this understanding.

Conclusion: A Lesson from Life

The poem offers a profound lesson from life: that losses are a part of us all. We must learn to accept our losses, rather than trying to hold on to what we have or cling to memories of the past. By accepting our circumstances and focusing on the present moment, we can cultivate hope and resilience. This is a valuable lesson for everyone, regardless of age or experience.

The poem concludes by saying "knowing what every man must know one day." The poet emphasizes that this knowledge is not limited to those who have experienced loss; it is essential for all people. By learning how to stand up again after facing loss or hardship, we can develop a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

A Final Message: Live in the Present

The poem's final message is one of acceptance and living in the present moment. Rather than dwelling on past regrets or worrying about the future, we should focus on the here and now. By doing so, we can cultivate a sense of hope and resilience that will carry us through life's challenges.

The poet's words are a reminder that life is precious, and every moment should be cherished. By embracing our losses and focusing on the present moment, we can live more fully and appreciate the beauty in life. The poem serves as a powerful reminder to develop the quality of acceptance and to cherish every moment that comes our way.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ena very good morning dear children of class tenth English so children today we are going to do our next poem so the title of the poem is the ball poem the ball poem so children it's been written by John Berryman so John Berryman has been a tremendous point in writing this poem in creating such a masterpiece you know outwardly if you read you would feel that the poem is about child psychology you would feel that the poem is about child psychology but but if we read in between the lines we would realize that the poem is about stark realities of life means it the child and the ball these are just symbols used by John Barrowman so that's why I called him that he has been a tremendous poet in writing this point right so a boy loses a ball he is very upset the ball doesn't cost much right nor is it difficult to buy another ball it's not at all difficult to buy another ball how costly the ball would be 100 rupees 50 rupees 200 rupees right so why then as the boy so upset the editor asks why the boy becomes so sad so upset when he loses his ball so read the poem to see what the poet thing's has been lost and what the boy has to learn from the experience of losing something right so that's a short poem again but a very very beautiful one I hope you would enjoy it see children the text goes like what is the boy now who has lost his ball what he what is he to do I saw it go merrily bouncing down the street and then merrily over there it is in the water merrily I hope you know merrily means happily often people wish Merry Christmas so that means they wish the happy time on the eve of Christmas so merrily means happily and bounce upon something bouncing means jumping right John Berryman he notices a boy who was standing near the Hartford right so when he notices the boy the young boy's ball was rolling away from him the boy was playing with the ball and the ball got rolled away from that boy and that it happily bounces on its way and finally the ball fell into water right so he tells us John Barrowman tells us how he notices each and every moment that the boy was initially playing with the ball and the ball gets rolled away from the boy and it bounces happily on its way means the ball was independent and it kept on bouncing as it's wrong right and finally it falls into water so he asks the readers what the boy should do now see what he says there it is in the water and in the second line the question poses what is he to do now it means he asked the readers that what should the boy do now it means boy's ball is gone now his only source of entertainment at that point of time was that ball right so the boy is confused like what to do now like what thing to play with now right so I hope these four lines are clear next is no use to say oh there are other balls an ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy ultimate you know something that is that comes at a final stage ultimate final and right so shaking grief fixes the boy right as he stands rigid rigidity you know means the one who cannot be shaken hook whose decision cannot be changed trembling rate shaking again so staring down straining down means looking down in a fixed manner staring down all his young days into the harbor harbor means that port where he was standing all his young days into the harbor where his ball went right so what he says means the poi things that he should console the boy he should sympathize with the boy and he should make the boy understand that there will be other balls just like the one with which he was playing right so sooner or later like just after one to two days or just after a few hours he may get a new ball right so buddy knows the boy knows that like this is a false consolation and like the point was to not in the mood of fixing that problem he he was just thinking of that that he should go to the boy and console him right but inwardly the point was aware that this false consolation will not work on the mood of that boy right he notices that the boy is very much sad he is aggrieved very sad right and he's also trembling with the pain of that loss of that ball he was trembling with pain his mood was highly upset right so as the boy watches that his ball is going into the harbor and down the street he feels as his childhood has slipped away from him understand the symbol children he says all his young days into the harbor where his ball went means children do not cry over the loss of things children do not cry over the loss of things so that actually is the loss of childhood joys the loss of childhood days as he says all his young days into the harbor it means his ball has not gone into the water only actually his joys of childhood have gone away from him means he feels that he has to depart from his childhood and act as a grown-up boy act as a grown-up man right so next the poet wants to innovate here that people generally console that boy by saying that you can get other balls you can purchase a new ball but the boy who has lost his dear ball will not become happy on these consolations he has learned that his childhood days are to be departed with now right so next stanza he says I would not intrude on him intrude you know children intrude means interfere right intrude on him a dime another ball is worthless a dime right a dime hair means you know coins money right a dime another ball is worthless now he senses first responsibility in a world of possessions a very deep meaning the boy conveys here worthless I hope you know that means useless right now his senses means he feels his first responsibility in the world of possessions means in the materialistic world children often live in the world of possessions the no sorry they do know that value of the hard-earned money they only know that they need to collect their toys that they need to fulfill their requirements right so here the child first of all senses that how he is going to step into the world of responsibility so the poachers is that he will not interfere in the matter of that boy he will not interfere in the life of that boy like although he was torn between dilemma right he feels that it would be wrong to go to that boy and interfere in his life right so you know giving that boy money to purchase another ball will not have any value for him like if that's highly symbolic try to understand the poet says that if he goes to the boy and gives him some money to purchase another ball that will not make the boy happy why risk because the poet feels that the boy is undergoing a change the boy is undergoing a transformation when he is coming to the realization of responsibility when he is realizing his responsibilities in this world right so in the world of positions like all the things are temporary nothing is permanent and the loss of things is but natural right the boy has started to understand that he has to be at the loss without much regret right he has to be at the loss of that ball without much regret so here the poet teaches a big lesson of life he means that we should not be so much attached to our things even he symbolizes that we should not be so much attached to the people in our life right because everything in this world is temporary and we should learn how to beer the loss of things we should learn how to bear the loss of people in our life so that's why he is symbolizing detachment in this point next Anja he says people will take balls balls will be lost of always little boy and no one buys a ball back money is external again he symbolizes that he says that material things like balls and other toys are just temporary right so things like monetary things are the things which can be purchased with money do not stay with us forever these are temporary things they keep on money keeps on you know money keeps on moving from one person to the other it keeps on transferring its place right so this is one particular thing in our possession today might be in the ownership of somebody else tomorrow the house in which I am living today may be may belong to someone else a few years of a few years afterwards right so the things we are honor of today may belong to someone else after a few days or after a few years it means nothing is permanent with us all the material things are temporary we may not be the honor of these things right after a few moments so here the ball is a symbol of like all the possessions of human beings the Boyer says that that we will certainly lose all the things one day and those cannot be even replaced by any one means he stresses upon the non permanence of objects he stresses upon the temporary side of things that they will be lost one day everything what is in our possession will not be with with us after I was particular timespan right so to conclude he says he is learning well behind his desperate eyes he is learning well behind his desperate eyes the epistemology of loss epistemology you know the science of knowledge epistemology I repeat the science of knowledge right so he's saying that he is learning well behind his desperate eyes desperate you know hopeless out of which no hope can be drawn hopeless 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 again a big lesson he says that although there is so much sadness in the eyes of that boy there is hopelessness in the eyes as he says desperate eyes it means although the point says that the boy's eyes are sad the boy is hopeless at this time but he is probably learning a very important lesson of his life and what is that important lesson have you learnt the important lesson is that loss and profit is a part of life loss is a permanent part of life in fact I would say so he is learning a lesson that we should not you know repent so much at the loss of material things rather we should accept them and the life moves on as he says the epistemology of loss epistemology you know knowledge of that loss how to stand up the boy is learning how to keep himself normal how to keep himself in a normal situation how to keep his mood in good situation so knowing what every man must know one day it means the hard reality of life is that losses are a part of it right so the boy is knowing that every person has to understand one day and many of us already know it the ones who have lost their precious things the ones who have lost their dear ones in life they can very easily interpret this poem in fact a big lesson of life they can easily understand that howsoever efforts are made on the part of human beings whatsoever they do howsoever like they apply their you know monetary and political force they cannot bring back their dear ones they cannot bring back the things that are once gone we replace objects at home we replace furniture at home right so the issue is not that the poet stresses that the time which is going the time which is slipping away from us without break that time which we are losing will never come back and instead of you know repenting over that loss we should in fact welcome our future we should in fact live in our present right so we should develop the quality of acceptance all in all the point wants to say we should develop the quality of acceptance right so I hope the point is clear to all of you and do solve the back exercise question or elles answer keys would be provided the very next day so have a nice day thank youa very good morning dear children of class tenth English so children today we are going to do our next poem so the title of the poem is the ball poem the ball poem so children it's been written by John Berryman so John Berryman has been a tremendous point in writing this poem in creating such a masterpiece you know outwardly if you read you would feel that the poem is about child psychology you would feel that the poem is about child psychology but but if we read in between the lines we would realize that the poem is about stark realities of life means it the child and the ball these are just symbols used by John Barrowman so that's why I called him that he has been a tremendous poet in writing this point right so a boy loses a ball he is very upset the ball doesn't cost much right nor is it difficult to buy another ball it's not at all difficult to buy another ball how costly the ball would be 100 rupees 50 rupees 200 rupees right so why then as the boy so upset the editor asks why the boy becomes so sad so upset when he loses his ball so read the poem to see what the poet thing's has been lost and what the boy has to learn from the experience of losing something right so that's a short poem again but a very very beautiful one I hope you would enjoy it see children the text goes like what is the boy now who has lost his ball what he what is he to do I saw it go merrily bouncing down the street and then merrily over there it is in the water merrily I hope you know merrily means happily often people wish Merry Christmas so that means they wish the happy time on the eve of Christmas so merrily means happily and bounce upon something bouncing means jumping right John Berryman he notices a boy who was standing near the Hartford right so when he notices the boy the young boy's ball was rolling away from him the boy was playing with the ball and the ball got rolled away from that boy and that it happily bounces on its way and finally the ball fell into water right so he tells us John Barrowman tells us how he notices each and every moment that the boy was initially playing with the ball and the ball gets rolled away from the boy and it bounces happily on its way means the ball was independent and it kept on bouncing as it's wrong right and finally it falls into water so he asks the readers what the boy should do now see what he says there it is in the water and in the second line the question poses what is he to do now it means he asked the readers that what should the boy do now it means boy's ball is gone now his only source of entertainment at that point of time was that ball right so the boy is confused like what to do now like what thing to play with now right so I hope these four lines are clear next is no use to say oh there are other balls an ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy ultimate you know something that is that comes at a final stage ultimate final and right so shaking grief fixes the boy right as he stands rigid rigidity you know means the one who cannot be shaken hook whose decision cannot be changed trembling rate shaking again so staring down straining down means looking down in a fixed manner staring down all his young days into the harbor harbor means that port where he was standing all his young days into the harbor where his ball went right so what he says means the poi things that he should console the boy he should sympathize with the boy and he should make the boy understand that there will be other balls just like the one with which he was playing right so sooner or later like just after one to two days or just after a few hours he may get a new ball right so buddy knows the boy knows that like this is a false consolation and like the point was to not in the mood of fixing that problem he he was just thinking of that that he should go to the boy and console him right but inwardly the point was aware that this false consolation will not work on the mood of that boy right he notices that the boy is very much sad he is aggrieved very sad right and he's also trembling with the pain of that loss of that ball he was trembling with pain his mood was highly upset right so as the boy watches that his ball is going into the harbor and down the street he feels as his childhood has slipped away from him understand the symbol children he says all his young days into the harbor where his ball went means children do not cry over the loss of things children do not cry over the loss of things so that actually is the loss of childhood joys the loss of childhood days as he says all his young days into the harbor it means his ball has not gone into the water only actually his joys of childhood have gone away from him means he feels that he has to depart from his childhood and act as a grown-up boy act as a grown-up man right so next the poet wants to innovate here that people generally console that boy by saying that you can get other balls you can purchase a new ball but the boy who has lost his dear ball will not become happy on these consolations he has learned that his childhood days are to be departed with now right so next stanza he says I would not intrude on him intrude you know children intrude means interfere right intrude on him a dime another ball is worthless a dime right a dime hair means you know coins money right a dime another ball is worthless now he senses first responsibility in a world of possessions a very deep meaning the boy conveys here worthless I hope you know that means useless right now his senses means he feels his first responsibility in the world of possessions means in the materialistic world children often live in the world of possessions the no sorry they do know that value of the hard-earned money they only know that they need to collect their toys that they need to fulfill their requirements right so here the child first of all senses that how he is going to step into the world of responsibility so the poachers is that he will not interfere in the matter of that boy he will not interfere in the life of that boy like although he was torn between dilemma right he feels that it would be wrong to go to that boy and interfere in his life right so you know giving that boy money to purchase another ball will not have any value for him like if that's highly symbolic try to understand the poet says that if he goes to the boy and gives him some money to purchase another ball that will not make the boy happy why risk because the poet feels that the boy is undergoing a change the boy is undergoing a transformation when he is coming to the realization of responsibility when he is realizing his responsibilities in this world right so in the world of positions like all the things are temporary nothing is permanent and the loss of things is but natural right the boy has started to understand that he has to be at the loss without much regret right he has to be at the loss of that ball without much regret so here the poet teaches a big lesson of life he means that we should not be so much attached to our things even he symbolizes that we should not be so much attached to the people in our life right because everything in this world is temporary and we should learn how to beer the loss of things we should learn how to bear the loss of people in our life so that's why he is symbolizing detachment in this point next Anja he says people will take balls balls will be lost of always little boy and no one buys a ball back money is external again he symbolizes that he says that material things like balls and other toys are just temporary right so things like monetary things are the things which can be purchased with money do not stay with us forever these are temporary things they keep on money keeps on you know money keeps on moving from one person to the other it keeps on transferring its place right so this is one particular thing in our possession today might be in the ownership of somebody else tomorrow the house in which I am living today may be may belong to someone else a few years of a few years afterwards right so the things we are honor of today may belong to someone else after a few days or after a few years it means nothing is permanent with us all the material things are temporary we may not be the honor of these things right after a few moments so here the ball is a symbol of like all the possessions of human beings the Boyer says that that we will certainly lose all the things one day and those cannot be even replaced by any one means he stresses upon the non permanence of objects he stresses upon the temporary side of things that they will be lost one day everything what is in our possession will not be with with us after I was particular timespan right so to conclude he says he is learning well behind his desperate eyes he is learning well behind his desperate eyes the epistemology of loss epistemology you know the science of knowledge epistemology I repeat the science of knowledge right so he's saying that he is learning well behind his desperate eyes desperate you know hopeless out of which no hope can be drawn hopeless 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 again a big lesson he says that although there is so much sadness in the eyes of that boy there is hopelessness in the eyes as he says desperate eyes it means although the point says that the boy's eyes are sad the boy is hopeless at this time but he is probably learning a very important lesson of his life and what is that important lesson have you learnt the important lesson is that loss and profit is a part of life loss is a permanent part of life in fact I would say so he is learning a lesson that we should not you know repent so much at the loss of material things rather we should accept them and the life moves on as he says the epistemology of loss epistemology you know knowledge of that loss how to stand up the boy is learning how to keep himself normal how to keep himself in a normal situation how to keep his mood in good situation so knowing what every man must know one day it means the hard reality of life is that losses are a part of it right so the boy is knowing that every person has to understand one day and many of us already know it the ones who have lost their precious things the ones who have lost their dear ones in life they can very easily interpret this poem in fact a big lesson of life they can easily understand that howsoever efforts are made on the part of human beings whatsoever they do howsoever like they apply their you know monetary and political force they cannot bring back their dear ones they cannot bring back the things that are once gone we replace objects at home we replace furniture at home right so the issue is not that the poet stresses that the time which is going the time which is slipping away from us without break that time which we are losing will never come back and instead of you know repenting over that loss we should in fact welcome our future we should in fact live in our present right so we should develop the quality of acceptance all in all the point wants to say we should develop the quality of acceptance right so I hope the point is clear to all of you and do solve the back exercise question or elles answer keys would be provided the very next day so have a nice day thank you\n"