The Voice In Dudley Randall's Ballad Of Birmingham

Ballad Of Birmingham
In Dundley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham,” a mother-daughter debate over the freedom march breathes the characters into life by empowering them with exclusive voices. Furthering the mother and daughter’s story through a third voice, Randall introduces the narrator’s cold and callous voice in the fifth stanza. The voices in the ballad emotionally connect the readers to the characters and the bombing of Birmingham.
Eager to attend the freedom march, the animated voice of the daughter bursts into the scene begging her mother for permission to “... march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today?” After swift dismissal from her mother, the daughter pleads further:
But, mother, I won’t be alone.
Other children

will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free.”
The daughter attempts to ease her mother’s concerns by reassuring her mother that she will be with other children: “‘But, mother, I won’t be alone.\ Other children will go with me, …’” The daughter’s permission is again denied, but readers can relate to the perseverance of the daughter.

Most readers of Dudley Randall’s “Ballad Of Birmingham” have said or heard the “But mom…” before and so this use of voice brings life to the daughter and mother. By using a relatable spoken phrase, Dudley Randall creates an atmosphere where the reader feels connected with the daughter.
The mother’s great concern for her daughter is relatable as well in the poem. Readers of the Ballad of Birmingham who have children will strongly relate to the mother’s spoken concern for her daughter’s safety:
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and

wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren’t good for a little child.”
The mother understands that the march could bring enormous danger for her child, so readers may sympathize with the mother’s strict no. Even though the daughter may not see the risks, the mother sees the danger through her daughter’s naivete. Children accidently jump into dangerous situations all the time, so the concern from the mother is completely justifiable. When the tragedy is revealed, the reader can connect with the mother’s grief in her denial “‘O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,\ But, baby, where are you?’” Despite the mother’s questioning, the reader understands that the daughter is gone. The heartfelt story demonstrates disasters like the bombing of Birmingham can affect anyone, such as the innocent daughter of the ballad. The mother’s voice tugs sympathy from readers, and highlights the tragedy of the bombing.
The most foreboding voice of the ballad comes from the narrator of the ballad After the harmless mother and daughter conversation, the voice steps in like Mayhem in an Allstate commercial to declare that “But that smile was the last smile\ To come upon her face.” This juxtaposition reverses the tone for the rest of the ballad and sets the scene for when the mother “...

raced through the streets of Birmingham\ calling for her child.” The narrator’s bluntness and lack of sympathy further magnifies the reader’s perception of the tragedy. By omission of sympathetic words in favor of straightforward words, the narrator’s voice pushes the reader to recognize the bombing of

Birmingham.
Through each voice's relatability or lack thereof, the voices push the reader to feel more strongly about the catastrophic bombing. After the reader begins relating to either the daughter or mother’s voice and feels connected to the characters, Dudley Randall brings forth the bombing through the narrator’s voice so that the reader feels its horrible effects as well. The technique leaves the reader feeling as though they witnessed a small glimpse of the event and serves to document the piece of history. Dudley Randall’s use of voices in the “Ballad of Birmingham” allows for a small tragedy of history to be memorialized.