Sample Essay 1 by Clark VanVooren
Clark VanVooren
English 210: Reading/Writing/Texts
Stephan Flores
February 6, 1997
Just Suppose, Juxtapose Small and identical playgrounds lay hidden in plotted neighborhoods that sweep over rolling hills. The sound of frolicking children floats over the quiet houses. Children playing simple games saunter toward adulthood. Images such as these are the first things that come to mind upon reading the title of John Berryman's, "The Ball Poem." The title itself seems to evoke an image of something simple and innocent. Larger meanings poke their head out, though, as the poem's hidden images and allusions come to the surface. By using the New Critical techniques of "treating the text as an independent, integrated, unified work of art" and by "focusing attention on the elements that constitute it" (Schakel & Ridl, 223), these meanings can take form. Berryman weaves images, emotions, and metaphors to create a story of loss and an effort to retrieve something that is impossible to regain.
As Berryman starts out, his writing style shares the initial assumption that the reader has. The title suggests that something rather simple, and even innocent, will follow. The first four lines of the poem act as a narrative set-up, in that they get the reader to underestimate what the rest of the poem contains. These lines carry an establishing rhythm that differs from the rest of the 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!" (ll.1-4). This rhythm, along with the simplistic and dry diction that Berryman chose for these first five lines, helps to establish a feeling of innocence. The sense is that Berryman is writing, to some degree, a children's story. The slight deviation from a third person narrative to a first person narrative raises a question as to the identity of the narrator, yet it quickly slips back into the third person narrative after this, bringing the reader's focus with it.
Berryman takes a dramatic twist in his language, and thus his imagery, in the sixth line. Suddenly, the innocence is shattered when "an ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy" (6) as he loses his ball to the harbour waters and he "stands rigid, trembling, staring down/All his young days into the harbour where/His ball went. I would not intrude on him" (7-9). These powerful words effectively conjure up a vivid image of this small child and his grief stricken face. The diction that the author uses here is the first sign of something bigger taking place. There is a sense that the boy has lost something other than just a possession; the seeds of a metaphor are planted. The rhythm changes as well, from the previous easy going stroll to a sharp and disjointed walk. While there is no structural break in the entire poem, it is clear that there is a division in the author's writing style, and thus in the emotional response of the reader, between the fifth and the sixth line.
There is another instance of a change in narrative voice in line nine. While the switch doesn't last long, it makes the question of the narrator's identity more important. Is he just a bystander watching all of this go on? Does he know the boy? Is he even there? The switch back to third person lets these questions just sink into the background for a while.
The rhythm then slows down again, but to a slow and deliberate pace rather than the easy stroll of the first few lines, creating an urge to delve deeper into the work. This is effective for the crescendo that Berryman leads the reader into: "...In a world of possessions. People will take balls,/Balls will be lost always, little boy,/And no one buys a ball back (12-14)." Suddenly, by twisting the rhythm and using an alliteration of the 'b's in line 14, Berryman drives home the implication of this lost ball.
Berryman uses the rhythm of these last few lines to create a conversation with the reader. As the rhythm speeds up and the alliteration occurs, this phrase picks up speed, power, and importance. Berryman drives these poems home with a powerful emphasis and it is easy to picture the author casually sitting on a couch in front of you and raising his voice. Once his point is made, he gives it the final touch by whispering to you that "money is external" (14), and then sits back to let it sink in. This last point just hangs in the air after the harsh delivery of lines 12-14 since the rhythm of this phrase is slower and its tone seems to stand alone from the strong deliverance of the rest of lines 12-14. Its singularity in style urges the reader to ponder its meaning. This ball now seems to represent something bigger and all-encompassing. The references to 'possessions', 'money', and 'buying' tie this all to the materialistic culture that this boy is growing up in. The ball becomes a representation of the sentiments, memories, and even innocence that, once lost, cannot be bought back. The fact that "people will take balls" suggests that society is, or will be, responsible for taking things from him. From the tone of the poem at this place, and the fact that "balls will be lost always", it seems that this loss is even fated to happen. Since "no one buys a ball back", it would seem that there is nothing that can be done about these losses once they occur. As a child, though, the boy is ignorant of all these certainties--until this first lesson.
The poem then becomes filled with a sense of knowledge, as if something has now been understood and an action is soon to follow: "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" (15-18). There is conviction and desperation at the same time in these lines. In comparison with lines 12-14, this reference to "how to stand up" after obtaining knowledge begins to connect. It becomes a lesson about loss for the boy. It doesn't really matter what specific thing was lost because there is always more to be lost; the world and the people in it will take and take until there is nothing more to give. The author is saying that everyone comes to this realization, and that some even know what is to be done about it.
Once again, the style of the poem changes and creates a emotional change. It's as if Berryman looks out the window for a moment, his voice drifts off a little, and he tells how "gradually light returns to the street,/A whistle blows," and "the ball is out of sight," (19-20). This visual imagery is a slight change from the imagery that has been used before. It is more abstract and its meaning is harder to clarify. What is this whistle? Is it a school yard teacher signaling that recess is over, or is it the sounds of some kind of siren? The clarity of the individual images and the oddity of their grouping, along with the unique slanted rhyme, create a transition from the previous lesson to the action that follows.
The break in style becomes even clearer as the narrative voice switches over completely to the first person narrative: "Soon part of me will explore the deep and dark/Floor of the harbour... I am everywhere,/I suffer and move, my mind and my heart move/With all that move me, under the water/Or whistling," (21-25, ellipses in original). With this change in voice, the identity of the narrator becomes extremely important. It could be possible for him to be just a casual observer, but this seems very unlikely.
With the statement of wanting to "explore the deep and dark/Floor of the harbor," Berryman shows the narrator to have made a decision to search for the lost ball, or more importantly, what it stands for. Since it is doubtful that anyone would go through this trouble for a strange boy and his ball, the narrator assumes the boy's identity. They are one person. The poem prior to this point becomes a memory, a retelling of the past that goes on in this person's head. The distinct forementioned writing styles that create breaks in the poem, along with the two previous changes in narrative voice, help to support this juxtaposition of identities.
While the age of the narrator is not mentioned, it seems quite clear that he is older in years. The change from a simple diction in the beginning to the more complicated one, such as the use of the term "epistemology" later on in the verse, shows an intellectual as well as emotional change. Lines 19 and 20 also show the break from the memory to the present. As the "light gradually returns to the street," the present time returns to clear away the dark memory from the boy/narrator.
The ellipses that occur in line 22 ("Floor of the harbor . . I am everywhere"), make it clear that an action takes place, such as the excursion into the harbor that the boy/narrator mentions. As the waters envelope and sweep him "everywhere," though, it becomes another metaphor for the powers that take and control. The boy/narrator expresses his powerlessness against these currents of control that make him "suffer and move, my mind and my heart move/With all that move me, under the water" (24-25). This man has been unable to get back or obtain anything from these social forces before. Yet, the boy/narrator has discovered peace under the harbor waters.
With the poem's conclusion, the sense that the man has found some sort of resignation is established as he asserts that "I am not a little boy (25)." The boy/narrator has used the knowledge of his lessons about loss and finally comes to the decision to "stand up" (18). He has decided to jump into the currents that try to sweep him through life. He may not be able to regain what has been lost before, but the satisfaction of making this stand is a satisfaction of its own. While the imagery seems to suggest drowning, the narrator is unconcerned since the fact that he has taken this stand is enough of a contentment for him. Whatever the outcome, he has decided to do what he has thought of doing for so long-- rebelling.
While its abstractness may provide an initial speedbump to understanding some of its underlying points, "The Ball Poem" creates a collage of vivid images, metaphors, and emotions that, once looked at as a collective whole with its build up of meanings, becomes a significant work that relieves a tension of life. Berryman seems to provide an outlet for the abstract loss that plagues everyone through life. What starts out as a lost ball, ends up as an image of loss--of innocence, sentiments, memories, pride, and strength. The unmanageable powers of society, people, and money try to force the narrator to a life of conformity. Berryman may not be trying to tell everyone to symbolically go jump into a harbor, but his communication of the knowledge to stand up is evident. No matter how big the step, we can all get a little closer to the goal.
Works Cited Berryman, John. "The Ball Poem." In Schakel, Peter and Ridl, Jack. Approaching Poetry: Perspectives and Responses. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. 105.
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