Ballad of Birmingham Dudley Randall Ballad of Birmingham

“Ballad of Birmingham” Dudley Randall

“Ballad of Birmingham” “Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today? ” “No, baby, no, you may not go, For the dogs are fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails Aren’t good for a little child. ” “But, mother, I won’t be alone. Other children will go with me, And march the streets of Birmingham To make our country free. ” “No, baby, no, you may not go, For I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead And sing in the children’s choir. ” She has combed and brushed her nightdark hair, And bathed rose petal sweet, And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, And white shoes on her feet. The mother smiled to know her child Was in the sacred place, But that smile was the last smile To come upon her face. For when she heard the explosion, Her eyes grew wet and wild. She raced through the streets of Birmingham Calling for her child. She clawed through bits of glass and brick, Then lifted out a shoe. “O, here’s the shoe my baby wore, But, baby, where are you? ”

Dudley Randall • Dudley Randall devoted his life to books after serving in World War II. • He worked his way through college and graduate school then he became a university librarian as well as a poet. • His father used poems in his sermons because he was a minister, and that’s where Randall discovered his love of poetry.

IRONY “The mother smiled to • know her child Was in the sacred place, But that smile was the • last smile To come upon her face”(line 6 pg. 463). The sacred place is the church and that was the last smile her mother got to see on her child’s face. You think you are safe in a church, but you never know where dangerous people are.

IRONY “No, baby, no, you may not go, For I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead And sing in the children’s choir” (line 4 pg. 463). The mother is telling her daughter to go to a good place instead of marching the streets of Birmingham. • She would be safer marching the streets of Birmingham. •

Symbolism “She has combed and brushed her nightdark hair, And bathed rose- petal sweet, And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, And white shoes on her feet”(line 5 pg. 463). • The niceness and quality of the clothes represent church. • She dressed very well to symbolize she is going to a holy sacred place.

Symbolism “She clawed through bits of glass and brick, Then lifted out a shoe. “O here’s the shoe my baby wore, But baby, where a you? ” (line 8 pg. 463). • It symbolizes the dangers of the world for a little girl. • The shows that the mother made a mistake.

Imagery • It shows what the “No, baby, no, you streets of may not go, Birmingham are For the dogs are fierce like. and wild, • The streets of And clubs and hoses, Birmingham are guns and jails very dangerous. Aren’t good for a little child”(line 2 pg. 463).

Imagery “Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today? ”(line 1 pg. 463). • The child does not want to be a little kid she wants to be more mature. • Playing outside is what little kids do, so she wants to march the streets.

Critic Review • In “Ballad of Birmingham, ” Dudley Randall illustrates a conflict between a child who wishes to march for civil rights and a mother who wishes only to protect her child. Much of this poem is read as dialogue between a mother and a child, a style which gives it an intimate tone and provides insight to the feelings of the characters.

Work Cited • http: //www. echeat. com/freeessay/Short-Analysis-of-Ballad-of. Birmingham-26572. aspx • Probst, Robert E. Elements of Literature. Austin [Tex. : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2000. Print