Ballad Of Birmingham, By Dudley Randall

“Ballad of Birmingham”, written by Dudley Randall, was written as a tribute to the four young girls that were fatally killed in the 1963 bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama. The four young girls that were killed in the bombing were, Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14). The poem begins with a mother and daughter discussing a Freedom March that is supposed to happen that day. The mother refuses to allow her young daughter participate in the march fearing that “those guns will fire.” (line 14). However, she allows her daughter to “go to church instead. And sing in the children’s choir.” (line 15). The mother sees the church as being a better destination …show more content…
By not naming the characters, it allows him to represent the “anonymous multitude of victims of racism and the civil rights struggle” (ENotes). It also allows him to remember and honor the families that were left behind to mourn their deceased loved ones. Thus making “Ballad of Birmingham” a tribute not only to the girls that were killed in the bombing, but also to the families of those girls. Randall’s choice to leave the mother and daughter nameless also represents the strong bond that exists between a mother and daughter. Mothers everywhere can relate to this and feel a sense of emotion thinking of their own daughters and what they would do to protect them. Mothers know that no matter how hard they try, it is not always possible to protect their children from the cruelties of the world. The tone that Randall uses to carry his message is somewhat depressing. The reader realizes that even a place as sacred as a church, is not always a safe haven from the …show more content…
This is where the narrator starts to speak in the poem. The tone in this stanza changes from distressed and worried to a sense of pride and joy shown by the mother. The mother takes pride in making sure her daughter looks her very best. It also gives the reader a sense of reassurance. The mother is helping her daughter get ready for church. She has “combed and brushed her night-dark hair” (line 17) and dressed her in her Sunday best just like the four girls that were killed in the bomb blast. Randall’s use of descriptive words in this stanza makes the readers almost feel as if they can actually smell the “rose petal sweet” (line 18) and they can visualize the daughter’s “night-dark hair” (line 17) and “white gloves on her small brown hands” (line 19). The reader can feel the pride that the mother is feeling in this stanza and the innocence and purity of the child.
In the sixth stanza the author uses irony again to give the reader a sense of what is about to happen. This stanza is ironic because the mother smiles “to know that her child was in the sacred place, but that smile was the last smile to come upon her face” (lines 21-24). She believes that her daughter will be in a safe and sacred place. Little does she know that the church was the worst place for her daughter to be. The reader can infer that something bad is about to happen to the