Soon after, the mother hears the sound of a bomb explode and rushes out to make sure her child is ok. She goes to the church that is now “bits of glass and brick” and does not find her child, but finds her little girl’s shoe. The first thought that occurred when reading this poem was how dedicated even little children were to free their own people and how life was like in the sixties. The little girl wanted to march the streets of Birmingham instead of going out to play. The little girl had no fear even when her mother said there would be guns and jails, clubs and hoses, and dogs that were fierce and wild. She went on saying she wanted to make our country free.
Ebony Johnson Gridley Instructor Laura Govia 30 January 2012 Ball of Birmingham Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” is about an African American girl who dies in a bombing in 1963 in the state of Alabama. Segregation between African Americans and Whites was very violent and dangerous. The ballad is about a child asking her mother for permission to march in the streets of Birmingham to make their country free (line 11-12). She told her child not to march and to go to church where her and her friends would be safe from all the violence in the country. Her mother had to keep her family out of the dangers of active political protests like the Freedom March or she would lose her job and her freedom to continue to be in the white community.
This is best exemplified in the events that had happened to Cora Lee as a child, which carried on with her through adulthood and motherhood. The “Ballad of Birmingham” written by Dudley Randall is a poem written on the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The poem conveys a mother who is looking out for her young daughter who wants to go downtown to play. In fear of violence the mother says no and tell her daughter she can go to church, which she thinks is the safest place to be. The child got ready to go sing in the children’s choir and a few moments later the mother head an explosion.
One would think that she would much rather play outside than march for her people. I think the mother would be the one who would want to go to the march to benefit her people. The mother fears for her child’s safety and sends her, to what she believes is a safe place, to church. In the end the church is bombed. The poem consists of eight, four-line stanzas.
Descriptive detail a. Ballads imagery 1. Purpose: The purpose of the imagery in “Ballad of Birmingham” is to describe the little girl’s innocence, and the mother’s fear of losing her loving daughter. The mother’s worry for her child is depicted throughout the ballad as the mother imagines how things would go horribly wrong if she’d let her girl go to the Freedom March, “No, baby, no, you may not go, For I fear those guns will fire”. The little girl’s innocence is depicted as she gets ready to go to church, for she obeys her mother’s orders. The white shoes give the reader a feeling of her innocence, white is a color that is usually implied to describe peace.
The fact that the mother fears for her child’s safety and sends her to what she believes is a safe place is ultimately where her daughter meets her demise. Another specific example of irony within the poem is the fact that her mother dresses her in her fancy church clothes, white gloves included, which is ultimately the dress in which one might be buried. In lines six and seven, the words “fierce,” “wild,” “clubs,” “hoses,” and “guns” all conjure up images of fights and riots. In stanza five, the images shift to those of a pure and innocent nature with the words “rose petal sweet.” The imagery shifts again causing a feeling of panic in stanza seven with the words “explosion” and “raced.” Randall uses musical devices to emphasize the effectiveness of the poem. Alliteration in used in the following examples: “for,” “fear,” and “fire” (14) and “wet” and “wild” (26).
How can historical references in poetry effectively convey a message? Dudley Randall answers that question in his poem, “Ballad of Birmingham” (see Content Note) which was written after the bombing of an African American church that killed four young girls. Randall uses historical facts from the bombing to create an imagined conversation between a mother and daughter before the September 13, 1963 bombing. Therefore, as a historical critic, I can parallel historical facts related to the church bombing to the message in Randall’s poem. To show this I will discuss: force, confidentiality, safety, and a message.
Ballad of Birmingham By Dudley Randall (On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963) “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 night-dark 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.
The mother wants her daughter to act the way she thinks she should. The mother’s use of the word “slut” makes the story have a harsh tone, and the tone it is persistent throughout the story. Despite the harsh and belittling tone, “Putting her foot down” on her daughter is the theme of the story. The mother is giving advice, or what is perceived to be as demands, about what a woman is supposed to be like. Case in point, “...on Sundays try to walk like a lady...you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions...this is how to sew on
Joan fells like she doesn’t have freedom to be a child, and the reader is able to feel that imprisonment. Atwood uses the supernatural element of gothic literature when Joan gets invited to join her Aunt Lou one Sunday evening, where she was then invited to join her Aunt and her Aunt’s friend, Robert, at their church. It isn’t the kind of Church Joan is used to. The members write a number on a slip of paper and their leader, Reverend Leda Sprott, will pick one randomly and give them a “message.” The element of the supernatural comes in when Reverend Sprott’s