I believe that in this poem the balloon is a metaphor for, Abse's/The Persona's resolve, what he believes in, the thing that keep him going every day. Towards the end of the poem Abse talks about how 'still it would not burst' when the balloon is attacked and clawed at with knifes. This confirms to the reader that this is not a real balloon, but rather something within the narrator that is represented by this image.The whole tone of the poem, I think, is quite childlike and simple which reflects the childish notion of becoming attached to something as simple and as delicate as a balloon. This also reminds me of how children seem so much more resilient to the world around them, if they fall over, they get back up again, if they fall out with their friends, ninety nine percent of the time a few hours later they will have forgotten the dispute and will be playing together again. Compared to adults, children have a much better way of coping with stressful and traumatic situations in the short term, while it is actually happening .
I feel what Abse is saying here, is that we need to learn from this and be more like children in our resilience to attack.
Great to see you still blogging about your wider reading, but don't forget to be rigorous in keeping up with the work on these exam poems. For inspiration, check out some of the other blogs, such as: http://enlangjohnstoneh.blogspot.co.uk/ and http://enlangbridglandl.blogspot.co.uk/ . These might help you get going when you are stuck.
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