Answer:
The poem "Ballad of Birmingham" by Dudley Randall talks about the bombing of the church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 during the Freedom March. It uses sensory language which appeals to the readers in all aspects, providing reactions based on the appeals through the four sense of sight, sound, smell and touch.
Step-by-step explanation:
Dudley Randall's poem "Ballad of Birmingham" is a poem about the Birmingham church bombing in 1963. The poem narrates how a little girl went to a church, to stay away from the trouble of the Freedom march but ended up being killed.
The poet uses sensory details in the poem to show what the events look like, making it almost possible for us to realistically experience it. It paints a picture of what the mother and daughter feels about the march, with the mother saying "fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails", all suggestive of the violence of that time. Then again, the little girl wants to join the "To make our country free". This reveals the political unrest of the time, pictured through the perspective of the little girl.
But the mother would rather have her "go to church instead And sing in the children’s choir", where she will be safe and doing what is good. Another use of the sensory language is in the description of the little girl getting ready to go to church. She "combed and brushed her night-dark hair", bathing in rose petals, wearing "white gloves" and "white shoes". these appeals to the sense of sight and also on the innocence of the little girl.
And when the mother heard the explosion, she cried "eyes growing wet and wild", looking for her daughter amidst the rubble of the blown church, "claw(ing) through bits of glass and brick". This devastating and sad sight shows the terror brought by the bombing of the church, not only significant of the death of the children but also with the audacity to destroy a place of worship.