Ballad Of Birmingham: Stylistic Devices In A Poem

The Ballad of Birmingham revolves around a little girl who would want to travel downtown to be part of a freedom protest. She cannot go because her mother does not let because of the dangerous conditions outside. Her mother instead tells her to go to church regardless of the little girl explaining that she would not be by herself. In an act of respect for her mother, the girl gets dressed up and goes to church. Her mother is satisfied that she would be safe at church. Later, her mother hears of an explosion that gets her speeding to downtown in search of her little girl. Unfortunately, she locates her daughter’s clothes and shoes in a pile of rubble. She is left trying to figure out where her daughter is.

The author implies the utilization of imagery in many pieces of the ballad to trigger the feelings of the reader concerning the honesty of the young lady and the gravity of the blast. The imagery serves to make a memory in the reader’s mind that is left shaping the pictures in perusing the entire ballad.

The main utilization of imagery happens in the second stanza, second and third lines. The young lady’s mom depicts the idea of the streets which are, as she would see it hazardous for a young lady’s life ‘… dogs are fierce and wild.’ The young lady’s mom is stressed that the young lady could lose her life to the firearms, or get captured because of the walk for an opportunity ‘… and clubs and hoses, guns and jails.’ The symbolism utilized in the third line delineates how the legislature through the police managed dissenters. The line shows that the police would utilize clubs, hoses, and weapons to frustrate the fights. The police likewise could capture the dissenters and bring them to prison. The reader, in this way, structures the picture of how the police managed the nonconformists that in the end request their feelings.

Another case of imagery is in the fifth stanza, especially for emotive purposes.

The writer composes that the young lady ‘… bathed rose petal sweet ‘ to show the young lady as youthful and guiltless. Although the past stanzas depict the young lady as developing, the citation reminds the reader that the young lady is pretty much nothing and honest, powerless against walk for the opportunity. The citation additionally depicts the young lady as fragile and exposed against the peril and malevolence that lie outside. The young lady additionally has ‘… drawn white gloves on her small brown hands ‘ to show more guiltlessness. The young lady’s lack of protection and powerlessness adds feeling to the sonnet.

At long last, another case of imagery is found in the 6th stanza. We are informed that the young lady’s mom’s eye ‘… grew wet and wild, as she raced through the streets of Birmingham ‘after hearing the blast. In a split second the reader comprehends the pressure that comes to pass for the mother on account of her decision of her little girl’s demise. The reader structures the picture of the mother, with her eyes wet and wild. The line requests to the reader’s feelings not withstanding giving them the memory of the horrible mishaps that followed the blast. The artist also portrays how the mother looked for her little girl in the rubbles excitedly ‘… through bits of glass and brick.’ In a minute the reader structures the picture of the impacts of the blast in this manner reasoning that the young lady has lost her life.

The artist successfully utilizes the utilization of symbolism to engage the memory and feelings of the reader. The reader has intentionally picked and utilized spellbinding words to show the symbolism that right away empowers the reader to shape the photos without any difficulty.