A Ballad Is a Form of Narrative Poetry. Narrativepoems Tell Stories. a Ballad, Then, Tells

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The Ballad

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A ballad is a form of narrative poetry. Narrativepoems tell stories. A ballad, then, tells a simple story in verse.

Traditional Ballads

The word ‘ballad’ comes from the Latin ballare, ‘to dance’. Originally ballads were songs that were sung or spoken by wandering minstrels who were eagerly listened to as they traveled around the countryside to fairs, castles and feasts. At first ballads were not printed or written, but were passed down orally from generation to generation. Because the words and music were learned through being passed from person to person, there may be several versions of any one ballad.

Ballads were generally about love and passion, adventure, heroism, crimes and battles, human conflict and supernatural happenings; legendary characters such as Robin Hood (who defied a repressive rule) were also ideal matter. However, some ballads were also quite realistic, describing everyday incidents in great detail.

Although ballads told simple stories they still made use of the short story structure of ‘beginning’, ‘middle’ and ‘end’. They also used four-line stanzas and a regular rhyme and meter (rhythm). A dramatic question-answer or dialogue form was often used to develop the story in a simple and straightforward manner. A common characteristic was the repetition of lines or phrases at regular intervals. This is known as the refrain or chorus. The refrain, which probably developed from the oral tradition, helps to give the narration a smooth flow and serves to intensify the dramatic elements.

Bush Ballads

Australian bush ballads form a valuable record of pioneering life in a rugged land. They generally arose from real-life situations, as in the bushranger ballads. Ballads such as ‘The Death of Ned Kelly’ and ‘The wild colonial boy’, which focus on Australian folk heroes, have a vigour and vividness that have made them very popular.

Broadside Ballads

Broadside ballads were printed on a broadsheet (the size of some daily newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald) and sold in the streets from the sixteenth century until the 1920s. They frequently had themes of social inequality or told stories in the news.

Literary Ballads

Literary ballads grew out of the principles of traditional ballads and broadside ballads. For example, Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ uses the traditional ballad form.

Modern Ballads

Through the centuries the ballad, like other forms of literature has undergone changes. Modern ballad writers, such as W. H. Auden, have introduced sophisticated imagery and thought and have striven for deeper levels of meaning than existed in the traditional ballads. Modern ballads are not always in the strict form of traditional ballads but they tell stories and usually contain rhyme and a strong metre. Sometimes the story told is about horrifying events from real life. Today, modern song writers use the ballad form to relate their stories.

In summary

The Characteristics of a Ballad

Ballads tell a simplebut dramatic story

Involve strong characters, simple dialogue and easy-to-follow actions

Traditionally told stories about love and passion, adventure, heroism, crimes and battles, human conflict and supernatural happenings; legendary characters were also ideal matter. However, some ballads were / are also quite realistic, describing everyday incidents in great detail

Not unlike a story, the opening stanzas in ballads frequently give information about the characters and setting and hint at the line the story might take

Ballads are most concerned with action / events unfolding. Therefore, stanzas may move readers from one scene to another very quickly

Use a narrator who delivers the story but remains passive (i.e. after the tale has swiftly reached its often tragic climax, the narrator or singer does not make any moral comment on the action). As the audience draws its own conclusion, it feels that it has been well entertained

Are usually written in four-line stanzas (quatrains)

Contain a regular rhyme scheme e.g.abcb

Ballad metre is regular with four feet in the first line, three in the second, four in the third and three in the fourth

i.e. Lines 1 and 3 have four accented feet

Lines 2 and 4 have three accented feet

Commonlyrepeat lines or phrases at regular intervals. This is known as a refrain or chorus

A Traditional Ballad

Because the early ballads were passed on from one person to another by word of mouth, the words sometimes changed giving each ballad its variations. Beneath is but one of the versions of the ‘Lord Randal’ ballad. In others, the poisonous eels are served in a pie or are fried in butter. The poisoner in this version is his sweetheart, but in some accounts, it is a stepmother, sister, wife or even the dying man himself.

LORD RANDAL

‘O where hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son?

‘O where hae ye been, my handsome young man?’

‘I hae been to the wild wood; mother, make my bed soon,