“Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall (p. 540)
Part A. Pre-reading: Read “The History Behind the Ballad” on page 542. Write a five sentence summary of
what you read.
Part B. Define the following literary terms.
1. ballad (p. 539)
2. rhyme (p. 537)
3. end rhyme (p. 537)
4. rhyme scheme (p. 537)
5. dramatic irony (p. 543)
Part C. Analysis of the poem. Read Randall’s poem on page 540 and answer the questions about each stanza.
Stanza 1 "Mother dear, may I go downtown
Who is the speaker, and what is the speaker saying?
Stanza 2
Stanza 3
Stanza 4
Stanza 5
Stanza 6
Stanza 7
Stanza 8
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 that 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?"
Who is the speaker, and what is the speaker saying?
Who is the speaker, and what is the speaker saying?
Who is the speaker, and what is the speaker saying?
What happens in this stanza? What is she doing?
What does the mother do, and why? What changes?
What happens, and what is the mother’s response?
What happens in this stanza? What does the mother
find?
Part D. Thinking Critically. Answer these questions in complete sentences.
1. This ballad does not have a refrain like most ballads do, but it does contain repetition. What two lines are
repeated?
2. What is the emotional effect of the poem? What feelings do the speaker intend to bring to the reader’s
attention through the events of the story?
3. What does the repetition of the words baby, child, and children add to the emotional effect of the poem?
4. Which lines rhyme in each stanza? Read on page 537 about how to chart a rhyme scheme in a poem. Using
letters of the alphabet, one letter for each new rhyming sound, write the rhyme scheme of “Ballad of
Birmingham.”
5. Explain the dramatic irony in the poem by answering these questions.
a. What does the reader know that the mother in the ballad does not know?
b. Why is the mother’s refusal to let her child join a demonstration and insistence that she go to church
instead a powerful example of dramatic irony?