Persona and Tone in \"Ballad

Persona and Tone in "Ballad of Birmingham."

Danger lurks everywhere and the one thing we can be certain of is that we can be certain of nothing. Dudley Randall demonstrates what this means in his poem "Ballad of Birmingham." In this poem, nothing makes sense and there is no real way to come to terms with things as much as there is a need to carry on with life. The poem depicts the event of a church bombing in Birmingham in 1963 and while the event is alarming by itself, Randall makes it even more so by writing the poem from the perspective of a mother whose child was killed in the bombing. This poem is painful but it is also successful in that it forces the reader to stop and consider the events that took place.

"Ballad of Birmingham," is not an historical account. It is also a mother's emotional journey. This persona allows the poet to look at things from a different perspective and draws much emotion from the reader. Told from the perspective of this grieving mother, the story is a horror story. The poet speaks with a soft, calm voice that seems to bring out the absurdity of the event. There is no scream for justice but rather the still voice of a mother attempting to do the right thing. She is doing what any sane woman would do and her daughter obeys her. All the pieces of this puzzle should point to a happy ending but they do not. Safety is the main issue as the mother tells her daughter, "For I fear those guns will fire. / but you may go to church instead / and sing in the children's choir" (14-6). She means well but sometimes that simply is not enough. The last image of children singing in a choir is shattered when the mother states:

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?" (25-8)

These images become more powerful when expressed through the mother's eyes.

The tone of this poem is important because it commands attention and respect without screaming and demanding righteousness. The daughter represents the ideals behind the civil rights movement and the poem's lullaby-like quality forces readers to actually listen to what the poet is saying. For example, we are forewarned of danger when we read:

"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" (5-8).

Here the mother realizes the danger involved and the poet knows about the danger of a racism that is passive aggressive.