Dudley Randall's Ballad Of Birmingham

Words: 563
Pages: 3
Open Document
Dudley Randall's "Ballad of Birmingham" is a moving poem about the bombing of a church in Alabama in 1963. This poem is ironic because of the mother's willingness to allow her daughter to go to church, then hearing a bomb explode in the place she sent her. Another ironic aspect is the safety of the church. Most people would think a church would be far more secure than a freedom march, but it turns out to be just the opposite. Randall uses pathos to describe the bond of a mother and daughter being broken because of a mother denying her daughter to go to a march, when it was actually the more unscathed option. The cultural setting takes place in the south during a time of stuffed for African Americans. Randall uses the allusion of "march the streets of Birmingham in a Freedom March today" (3-4), assuming that readers know what was going on in the 1960s in Alabama. He also mentions the daughters "small brown hands" (19), that are emphasized by the …show more content…
She has "drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, and white shoes on her feet" (19-20), the color white symbolizing the child's innocence. This stanza also reveals the mother's true unawareness of the dangers of going to the church. She prepares her to look pretty and sweet, naive to what was going to happen. The mother "smiled to know her child was in the sacred place" (21-22), but that smile is quickly replaced when an explosion is heard and tears stream down her face. She "raced through the streets of Birmingham" (27) looking for her child with worry and fear. When she finally comes upon the church, she digs through the debris left behind in hopes of finding her daughter, but instead finds only her child's shoe. This poem goes to show how things may not always be as they seem. A place can appear as somewhere very protected and safe, but it may not always be that way, for danger always
Show More

Related Documents: Dudley Randall's Ballad Of Birmingham

Randall's Poem 'Ballad Of Birmingham'

into the late 1960’s and this era forever left a stain on the American timeline. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham was one of the stains that happened in this era. Randall wrote the poem “Ballad of Birmingham” because he was a very passionate colored man that cared about people so Randall took it upon himself to write about this tragedy. “Ballad of Birmingham” perfectly blends literary elements and social conflicts of the time by starting out with the daughter wanting to go to the…

Words 1086 - Pages 5

Tragedy Exposed In Ballad Of Birmingham, By Dudley Randall

In Dudley Randall’s, Ballad of Birmingham, he illustrates the horrific bombing of the 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. The poem starts with a young girl asking her mother for permission to attend a civil rights rally, though the girl is not granted her wish she is allowed to attend church. After a tragic turn of events the mother regrets her decision and feels as if she has failed to protect her precious daughter (Bonneville). Understanding the poem, Ballad of Birmingham, involves understanding the struggle…

Words 533 - Pages 3

Ballad Of Birmingham Analysis

Ballad of Birmingham Analysis The lyrics of the poem “Ballad of Birmingham,” by Dudley Randall, relates a horrific event attributable to the racism lived in Birmingham, Alabama, due to the civil rights movement. As the poem begins, a young girl asks her mother for permission to go downtown and join a freedom march. The mother afraid of the danger on the streets, refuses her daughter’s petition, but instead suggests her to go to church and sing in the children’s choir. The little girl listens to…

Words 650 - Pages 3

Comparing Langston Hughes And Dudley Randall

subject and brought it to life through poetry. Langston Hughes and Dudley Randall both wrote poems that differed from what the world had become used to seeing. They both wrote about what African Americans experienced day in and day out in the thick of the civil rights movement. Although their writing style differs greatly, there are many similarities in their writing, most obvious being their themes. Langston Hughes and Dudley Randall both explore the…

Words 1434 - Pages 6

Essay about “Ballad of Birmingham” Explication

Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” is a look into the effects of racism on a personal level. The poem is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The tone of the title alludes to the city of Birmingham as a whole. The poem gives the reader, instead, a personal look into a tragic incident in the lives of a mother and her daughter. The denotation of the poem seems to simply tell of the sadness of a mother losing her child. The poem’s theme is one of guilt, irony, and the grief…

Words 922 - Pages 4