POEM - 2 THE BALL POEM BY- JOHN BERRYMAN

 Extract 1. 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’

1. From which poem have the above lines been taken?

(a) Fire and Ice (b) A Tiger in the Zoo (c) The Ball Poem

2.Which of the following words is similar to the word ‘merrily’?

(a) sadly (b) happily (c) cleverly

3. What happened to the boy?

(a) The boy was amusing (b) The boy was happy © The boy was unhappy (d) The boy was cheerful

4. The boy has lost his ball, it is in the ………….

(a) market (b) garden © house (d) water

Ans. 1-c, 2-b, 3-c, 4-d,

OPTIONAL - 1. Who has composed ‘The Ball Poem’?

(a) John Berryman (b) Carolyn Wells (c) Leslie Norris (d) Robin Klein

2. Where was the boy staring down?

(a) the sea (b)the harbour (c) the ocean (d) the lake

3. What does a ball cost? 

(a) 10 dime (b) 1 dime (c)15 dime (d) 4 di

4.What was the boy playing with? 

(a) a ball (b) a car (c) a bus (d) a bat

5.Where does the ball go?

(a) in bushes (b) in water (c) on the roof (d) in the jungle

Ans. 1-a, 2-b, 3-b, 4-a, 5-b,

Questions and Answers

QUES. 1. Where did the ball?

Ans. The ball went into the water.

2. In the poem ‘The Ball Poem’, 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 will not intrude on him" because he wants the boy to learn the meaning of loss on his own. That’s why the poet doesn’t offer him money to buy another ball.

3. What does in the world of possession mean?

Ans. The world of possessions means that the world is full of materialistic things.

4. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Explain in your own words.

Ans. From the loss of the ball, the boy is learning his first lesson the 'knowledge of loss'. The incident is a lesson to him on how to bear losses in life.