Question

What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.

Answer 1

The poet suggests that from the loss of the ball, the boy is learning how to stand up in a world of possessions where he will lose things, will buy some more to replace the ones lost, but would never be able to buy back the thing that he had lost. He is sensing his first responsibility as he has lost the ball. The poet says that money is something external and what he really wants the boy to understand is the meaning of loss. The boy is learning what it means to lose something. The poet says that knowing that every man has to stand up after such losses, the boy too will learn how to stand up and leave the losses behind as he would have understood the true meaning and nature of loss.