Dudley Randall first published "Ballad of Birmingham" as a broadside in 1965. The poem was written in response to the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which had a predominantly Black congregation and was targeted by white supremacists on September 15, 1963. Four young Black girls were killed in the explosion, and 22 other congregants were injured. This attack was set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to end segregation in the United States and, more specifically, in southern states like Alabama. As the title suggests, the poem is a ballad, meaning that it uses common meter and an ABCB rhyme scheme.

• Read the full text of “Ballad of Birmingham”

• “Ballad of Birmingham” Summary

• “Ballad of Birmingham” Themes

  • 

    Racism and Violence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-32
  • 

    Parenting and Protection

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-8
    • Lines 13-16
    • Lines 21-32

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Ballad of Birmingham”

  • Lines 1-4

    “Mother dear, may ...
    ... Freedom March today?”

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    “No, baby, no, ...
    ... a little child.”

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    “But, mother, I ...
    ... our country free.”

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    “No, baby, no, ...
    ... the children’s choir.”

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    She has combed ...
    ... on her feet.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-24

    The mother smiled ...
    ... upon her face.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-28

    For when she ...
    ... for her child.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 29-32

    She clawed through ...
    ... where are you?”

    

    

    

    

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• “Ballad of Birmingham” Symbols

  • 

    The White Gloves and Shoes

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 19-20: “And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, / And white shoes on her feet.”

• “Ballad of Birmingham” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Mother,” “dear,” “may”
    • Line 3: “march”
    • Line 4: “March”
    • Line 5: “No,” “no,” “not”
    • Line 6: “For,” “fierce”
    • Line 10: “will,” “with”
    • Line 11: “march”
    • Line 12: “make”
    • Line 13: “No,” “no,” “not”
    • Line 14: “For,” “fear,” “fire”
    • Line 15: “church”
    • Line 16: “children’s”
    • Line 21: “smiled”
    • Line 22: “sacred”
    • Line 23: “smile,” “smile”
    • Line 26: “wet,” “wild”
    • Line 29: “bits,” “brick”
    • Line 31: “baby,” “wore”
    • Line 32: “But,” “baby,” “where”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “may,” “downtown”
    • Line 2: “out,” “play”
    • Line 3: “streets”
    • Line 4: “Freedom,” “today”
    • Line 5: “No,” “baby,” “no,” “may,” “go”
    • Line 6: “wild”
    • Line 7: “clubs,” “guns”
    • Line 8: “child”
    • Line 9: “alone”
    • Line 10: “go,” “me”
    • Line 11: “streets”
    • Line 12: “country,” “free”
    • Line 13: “No,” “baby,” “no,” “may,” “go”
    • Line 14: “fire”
    • Line 16: “choir”
    • Line 18: “sweet”
    • Line 20: “feet”
    • Line 21: “smiled,” “child”
    • Line 22: “sacred,” “place”
    • Line 23: “smile,” “smile”
    • Line 24: “face”
    • Line 26: “wild”
    • Line 28: “child”
    • Line 29: “through,” “bits,” “brick”
    • Line 30: “lifted,” “shoe”
    • Line 31: “here’s,” “shoe,” “baby”
    • Line 32: “baby,” “you”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “dear, may”
    • Line 5: “No, baby,” “, no,” “, you”
    • Line 7: “hoses, guns”
    • Line 9: “But, mother,” “, I”
    • Line 13: “No, baby,” “, no,” “, you”
    • Line 31: “O, here’s”
    • Line 32: “But, baby,” “, where”

  • Cacophony

    

    

    

    

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    Where cacophony appears in the poem:

    • Line 29: “She clawed through bits of glass and brick,”
    • Line 30: “Then lifted out a shoe.”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Mother,” “dear,” “may,” “downtown”
    • Line 2: “Instead,” “out”
    • Line 3: “march,” “streets,” “Birmingham”
    • Line 4: “Freedom,” “March,” “today”
    • Line 5: “No,” “baby,” “no,” “may,” “not”
    • Line 6: “For,” “dogs,” “are,” “fierce,” “wild”
    • Line 7: “clubs,” “hoses,” “guns,” “jails”
    • Line 8: “good,” “little,” “child”
    • Line 9: “But,” “mother,” “won’t,” “be,” “alone”
    • Line 10: “Other,” “children,” “will,” “with,” “me”
    • Line 11: “march,” “streets,” “Birmingham”
    • Line 12: “To,” “make,” “our,” “country,” “free”
    • Line 13: “No,” “baby,” “no,” “may,” “not,” “go”
    • Line 14: “For,” “fear,” “those,” “guns,” “fire”
    • Line 15: “church,” “instead”
    • Line 16: “sing,” “children’s”
    • Line 17: “combed,” “brushed,” “her,” “dark,” “hair”
    • Line 18: “sweet”
    • Line 19: “drawn,” “white,” “gloves,” “brown,” “hands”
    • Line 20: “white,” “shoes”
    • Line 21: “mother,” “smiled,” “her,” “child”
    • Line 22: “sacred,” “place”
    • Line 23: “But,” “that,” “smile,” “the,” “last,” “smile”
    • Line 24: “face”
    • Line 25: “For,” “when,” “heard,” “explosion”
    • Line 26: “Her,” “grew,” “wet,” “wild”
    • Line 27: “raced,” “through,” “streets”
    • Line 28: “Calling,” “for,” “her,” “child”
    • Line 29: “She,” “clawed,” “through,” “bits,” “glass,” “brick”
    • Line 30: “Then,” “lifted,” “shoe”
    • Line 31: “here’s,” “shoe,” “baby,” “wore”
    • Line 32: “But,” “baby,” “where,” “are”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “downtown / Instead”
    • Lines 3-4: “Birmingham / In”
    • Lines 7-8: “jails / Aren’t”
    • Lines 11-12: “Birmingham / To”
    • Lines 21-22: “child / Was”
    • Lines 23-24: “smile / To”
    • Lines 27-28: “Birmingham / Calling”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-16
    • Lines 17-20
    • Lines 21-22
    • Line 29

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “And march the streets of Birmingham”
    • Line 5: ““No, baby, no, you may not go,”
    • Line 7: “And,” “and,” “guns,” “and”
    • Line 11: “And march the streets of Birmingham”
    • Line 13: ““No, baby, no, you may not go,”
    • Line 14: “guns”
    • Line 18: “And”
    • Line 19: “And,” “white”
    • Line 20: “And,” “white”
    • Line 21: “smiled”
    • Line 23: “smile”
    • Line 30: “shoe”
    • Line 31: “shoe,” “baby”
    • Line 32: “baby”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “And march the streets of Birmingham / In a Freedom March today?””
    • Lines 6-8: “For the dogs are fierce and wild, / And clubs and hoses, guns and jails / Aren’t good for a little child.””
    • Lines 10-12: “Other children will go with me, / And march the streets of Birmingham / To make our country free.””
    • Line 14: “For I fear those guns will fire.”
    • Lines 25-26: “For when she heard the explosion, / Her eyes grew wet and wild.”

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 18: “And”
    • Line 19: “And”
    • Line 20: “And”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-8
    • Lines 13-16
    • Lines 21-32

• “Ballad of Birmingham” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Freedom March
  • Clubs
  • Hoses
  • Rose petal sweet
  • Drawn
  • Sacred
  • (Location in poem: Line 4: “Freedom March”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Ballad of Birmingham”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Ballad of Birmingham” Speaker

• “Ballad of Birmingham” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Ballad of Birmingham”

• More “Ballad of Birmingham” Resources

  • External Resources

    • "Ballad of Birmingham" Set to Music — Check out musician Jerry Moore's version of the poem.

    • Randall Reads His Work — Listen to Dudley Randall recite a number of his poems—including"Ballad of Birmingham," which begins at the 6:50 mark—in this recording from the Library of Congress.

    • The New York Times Celebrates Dudley Randall — Read about Dudley Randall's work and his founding of Broadside Press, which was an important publishing press in the Black Arts Movement.

    • The Poet's Life — Learn more about Dudley Randall's life and work in this brief overview.

    • Broadside Lotus Press — Take a look at what Broadside Press—now called Broadside Lotus Press_is doing these days!T he press is the oldest Black-owned press still in existence.

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