The poem "Red Balloon" by Abse is an extended metaphor where the red balloon represents his Jewish faith. As the balloon floats over the town, some try to attack it but it does not burst, representing how though some tried to diminish his faith, it remained strong. The balloon brings him both joy in his faith but also notoriety from others in Welsh society who are prejudiced against his Judaism. The poem depicts how his religion divided people and caused conflicts with others due to their resentment towards it.

1. Red Balloon

2. Summary
• Red balloon is a poem about Abse growing up in Wales and about how he was
burdened with the severe prejudices of others, specifically against his Judaism
• The ‘Red Balloon’ is symbolism for Abse’s faith and this is coherent throughout
because of the metaphorical strength of the balloon ‘some clawed at my balloon,
but still it would not burst’

3. Features
It sailed across the startled town,
Over chapels, over chimney-pots,
Wind-blown above a block of flats
Before it floated down
The first stanza instigates the extended metaphor and the
idea of it floating over the town gives off the impression that
it has some sort of omnipotence over others
Oddly, it landed where I stood,
And finding’s keeping, as you know.
I breathed on it, I polished it,
Till it shone like living blood
Stanza 2 has a simile in the final line and this has the effect
of emphasizing the balloon as symbolism because it’s
humanized with the word ‘blood’

4. It was my shame, it was my joy,
it brought me notoriety.
From all Wales the rude boys came,
It ceased to be a toy
The paradox in the first line has the effect of displaying
alternate perceptions of his religion; the ‘shame’ is the way
it is perceived by the Welsh society in general, the ‘joy’ is his
personal interpretation
I heard the girls of Cardiff sigh
When my balloon, my red balloon,
Soared higher like a happiness
Towards the dark blue sky
Stanza 4 shows Abse inducing pathos as he is emphasizing
how belittled he felt by all. Also, the simile in line 3 is to
show how strongly he felt about Judaism; trying to link
happiness to it whenever possible

5. Then some boys laughed and some boys cursed,
Some unsheathed their dirty knives;
Some lunged, some clawed at my balloon,
But still it would not burst
The tone of this stanza is extremely hyperbolic and this is done
to suggest how strong his religious persuasion was and also the
resentment most held towards him because of it

6. Interpretation
• The interpretation of this poem is that the balloon is coherent symbolism for his
strong Jewish faith. It is about the conflicts religion brought up and the divisive
effect it had on society as a whole

7. Links to Larkin
• The Larkin Poem – Sunny Prestatyn is similar to Red Balloon. In this poem, a girl on
a poster advertising a holiday resort is completely defaced by vandals and the
attack is described as very malicious ‘stab right through The moustached lips’ and
the attack is similar to the attacks on Abse because of his religion. Before the
attacks, both the poster and the religion are both pristine ‘shone like living blood’,
‘In tautened white satin’
• A tenuous link could be made between Red Balloon and Water. In Water, Larkin
talks of how he would construct a religion if he was called in to do so. The
emphasis he puts on the water and this has the effect of removing the potency of
religion. He feels as if he would be one of the boys lunging at Abse; seemingly
obstinate towards the concept of religion. It also suggests the impurity of religion
‘A furious devout drenched’ and this maybe vindicates the spite others have
towards religions