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Summary of the poem ‘The ball’:
The poet watches the boy as the ball bounces happily down the street and then disappears into the water. The poet knows it’s useless to say, “Don’t worry, there are other balls.” The boy’s sadness isn’t just about this one ball. He’s frozen in place, staring into the water where it vanished. His whole young life feels like it’s sinking with the ball.
he poem starts by asking a question: a little boy has lost his ball, and he’s very upset. Why does this simple thing bother him so much? After all, a ball isn’t very expensive, and he could easily get a new one.
The poet feels for the boy but respects his sadness. A dime to buy another ball means nothing right now. This is the boy’s first real lesson in life: things get lost, people will disappoint you, and sometimes these losses feel huge. Money can’t fix that kind of hurt.
Behind the boy’s sad eyes, he’s learning a hard lesson. He’s figuring out how loss works. He’s learning how to stand up strong even when something precious is gone. This is something all adults have to learn, and many of us learn it the hard way, over and over again.
The poem’s message is that while the ball itself was simple, the experience wasn’t. The boy’s grief is real and important. His loss is teaching him about life, responsibility, and the limits of what money and material things can fix. It’s teaching him what it means to grow up.