Ballad of Birmingham - Dudley Randal

The "Ballad of Birmingham" written by Dudley Randal, was published in 1963. Through its title and context, it is obvious this ballad referencing the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama during the civil rights peace rallies. In this bombing, many people were hurt or killed. In the "Ballad of Birmingham", Dudley Randall uses irony to describe the mother's decision making process. In line 12, I find it ironic how the child is acting like an adult wanting to go to the freedom march. Likewise, it seems the mother is acting childish by not wanting to go. In the first stanza, irony is used to make to poem more interesting and the show it is a child's wants yet a mothers concern. The first stanza is also very important to the poem; Randall narrows in on specific culture in 1963 in the deep south. Even though the little girl wants to go to a peace rally, peace rallies were known for being very violent and dangerous. Her mom wants her to go to a church instead. Churches are typically though of to be very safe and secure. The mother never thought of the church as a place for a bombing. In irony in this, is the church ends up being the worst place for them to go.

In the fifth stanza, there is a shift in dialogue. The narrator is now speaking. The reader can immediately tell how concerned the mother is with how her daughter looks and dresses. When the mother is dressing her, she tries to get her daughter to wear all white; white is a symbol of purity. Also in the fifth stanza, Randall uses a metaphor to show the child is in fact a girl. He also uses a metaphor in stanza seven. This is used to portray how angry and worried the mother was after the explosion.

In this ballad, Randal uses repetition to describe the mothers concern for her daughter. She repeats the lines, "No, baby, no, you may not go" in stanzas two and four. Randal also changes his tone throughout the poem. He begins the poem with a sense of innocence from the little girl fighting for what she believes in. He then progresses into a state of concern from the mother. The mother does not want her daughter to be harmed while at the peace march. Beginning in the fifth stanza, there is joy and pride from the mother. She takes pride in dressing her daughter in the nicest clothes and having her daughter go to church with her instead of the march. The tone after the explosion quickly becomes full of grief and worried for the daughter outcome.