A Review Of Dudley Randall’s “Ballad Of Birmingham”

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it is to be
understood by its audience. The poem tells the story of a young girl who
asks her mother if she can participate in a Freedom March on the streets of
Birmingham. Her mother refuses to let her go due to the fact that there is
a high risk that the march is potentially dangerous. Instead of a march in
the streets, the mother suggests that the daughter go to church and sing in
the choir, where she will be safe. The poem takes an unexpected turn when
the mother hears an explosion. Instead of performing a hate crime at the
demonstration, the church was bombed.
The speakers of the poem are describing a specific event that is
taking place in the present time. Aside from the mother and the daughter
speaking, the last four stanzas (with the exception of the last two lines)
are interpreted by an outside narrator. Although the poem was written in
1969, the reader gets the feel that they are there, in the same setting as
the poem. Since Randall composed this poem six years ...

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