NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 3 Poem – The Ball Poem

Thinking about the Poem

In pairs, attempt the following questions.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 3 Poem – The Ball Poem

Question 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 reason the poet states, “I would not intrude on him,” is that he wants the youngster to grow from experiencing loss. This will impart to the youngster the knowledge that loss is a necessary aspect of life. The poet does not impede the boy’s organic learning process as a result. Additionally, he declines to give the child money so that he may purchase another ball since the lesson he would have learned from this experience—that of loss—would lose its value and the youngster would not have learned responsibility from it.

Question 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: Indeed, it seems the youngster has had the ball for a very long time. All of his happy childhood memories of those bounce-filled days rushed before his eyes as it dropped into the ocean. He realized that, like the ball, those moments would never return. He believed that although he could purchase new balls, those that he lost with the ball in the water would never come back. Instead, he could make new memories with those balls.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem

Question 3: What does “in the world of possessions” mean?

Answer: “In the world of possessions” alludes to a universe made up of tangible objects. Individuals own varying amounts of land, real estate, cash, or any other kind of valued possession. In the poem, the author suggests that although the youngster would not think much of the ball’s disappearance, it would help him understand the feeling of loss and the sensation of losing memories connected to it.

Question 4: Do you think the boy lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.

Answer: No, it appears that the youngster had no prior losses. “He senses first responsibility in a world of possessions” makes this clear. According to this passage, he may have realized how many priceless moments are lost when a certain thing is gone due to his sense of loss.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem

Question 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: In order to deal with the loss of his ball, the youngster has learned a valuable lesson, which the poet hopes to portray in his poem. Even as he grows up in this materialistic environment, he is grieving and depressed. He comes to realize that there are a number of significant things in life that are lost and cannot be replaced. When he drops the ball, he also experiences his first feeling of accountability. As the youngster advances in his life and realizes the actual nature and significance of loss, he learns to get up and move past the loss.

Question 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, at the age of five, my companion dog perished in a car accident. I was in my garden one day playing with my puppy and a ball. My dog sprang to grab the ball when I threw it in the air while we were playing, but it bounced back and slid to the surrounding roadway.

My dog was running over by a speeding automobile as it rushed to get the ball, and I could hear it wailing in agony. When I got there, my dog was covered in blood. He was bleeding heavily and had already passed away from his wounds when I hurried him to the hospital, but it was too late. This occurrence devastated and saddened me deeply. Although I eventually got over my loss, I still love my dog and mourn him terribly, and the incident is still very much in my memory.

(Note: Students can write this answer as per their personal experiences.)

Mail Us