BALLAD

Introduction

The ballad is an important form of narrative poetry. It is generally a short poem or song that tells a story. The word ballad is associated with the Scottish word “ballares,” meaning “to dance.” Ballads are also connected with the old Germanic tradition of storytelling, such as Beowulf. In medieval England, minstrels sang or recited stories about people, events, legends and distant places.

Traditional or Folk Ballad

The traditional ballad, also called the folk or popular ballad, was originally transmitted through oral tradition. It was sung or recited from one generation to another. Its original author is generally unknown. As different singers repeated the ballad, they sometimes changed its words or tune, so different versions developed.

The main characteristics of a traditional ballad are:

1. Narrative: It tells a story.

2. Simple and Short: The story is presented briefly and directly.

3. Dramatic: Action and dialogue are important.

4. Impersonal: The narrator usually does not express personal feelings.

5. Abrupt Opening: The ballad often begins suddenly, sometimes in the middle of an important event.

6. Oral Tradition: It was originally sung or recited.

7. Repetition: Repeated words and lines help in remembering and performing the ballad.

Ballad Stanza

The most common stanza is called the ballad stanza or ballad measure. It is generally a quatrain, or four-line stanza. The first and third lines usually have four stresses, while the second and fourth have three stresses. Usually, the second and fourth lines rhyme, giving the common ABCB rhyme scheme.

An example is found in Sir Patrick Spens:

The king sits in Dumferling towne,
Drinking the blude-red wine:
“O whar will I get a guid sailor,
To sail this schip of mine?”

The expression “blude-red wine” or “blood-red wine” is an example of a stock descriptive phrase used in traditional ballads.

Ballad Devices

Traditional ballads commonly use:

• Stock phrases: “blood-red wine,” “milk-white steed”

• Refrain: a line or group of lines repeated in different stanzas

• Incremental repetition: repetition with a small addition or change that moves the story forward

Types of Ballads

There are three important types:

1. Traditional or Folk Ballad: An anonymous ballad passed through oral tradition.

2. Broadside Ballad: A ballad printed on one side of a sheet of paper and usually dealing with a current event, person or issue.

3. Literary Ballad: A written ballad by a known poet, deliberately imitating the form and spirit of the traditional ballad.

Important literary ballads include Wordsworth’s We Are Seven, Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Walter Scott’s Proud Maisie, and Keats’s La Belle Dame sans Merci.

History and Collections

An early English example is “Judas,” found in a thirteenth-century manuscript. In 1765, Thomas Percy published Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, which increased interest in traditional poetry. Later, Francis J. Child published English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882–98), containing 305 ballads in different versions.

Conclusion

Thus, the ballad is an important form of narrative folk poetry. Its chief features are storytelling, simplicity, oral tradition, dramatic action, dialogue, repetition and the ballad stanza. The traditional ballad greatly influenced later English poetry, particularly the literary ballad and Romantic poetry.