The Power Behind the Poem
No one can dispute that Dudley Randall’s “The Ballad of Birmingham” is an extremely powerful poem, the question is why? There are thousands of poems about just as equally horrifying scenarios, but none of them even come close to being as chill inducing as this one. Yes, the topic is extremely powerful, but the way the topic is actually presented is what makes it really stand out. The poem is worded so as to take this tragic event and help the readers relive it through the tearful eyes of a mother. It can sometimes be hard to relate to a blob or text describing something that happened, but by personalizing it and making the reader relate to the mother, Randall is able to help the reader understand some of what it was like to experience the bombing firsthand. The bond between mother and child is something universally known and cherished, and by showing that bond Randall manages to connect with the reader on a deeper level. Then after building up this bond of the space of a f...