Feature
(Knapp, n.d.)
(Knapp, n.d.)
One of the most common themes in ballads is love: unrequited love or thwarted love
Ballads contain a wide range of magical aspects, the most popular of which being faeries, ghosts, shapeshifting, and witchcraft.
It is another popular ballad theme, generating some of the genre's best: Lord Randal.
The majority of historical ballads are from the later time (1600s) and reflect local occurrences that the listeners are familiar with.
(What Is a Ballad in Poetry?, n.d.)
The folk Ballad often present in a brief tale that explodes into action as soon as the story has made a clear turn toward its conclusion.
Some Ballads, particularly the more traditional ones, were written for listeners who couldn't read or couldn't read well. So, basic language is used for everyone to understand without special reading ability.
Ballad stories typically center in heroic, amusing, or tragic characters with a single dramatic occurrence that serves as the story's moral core and message.
A "refrain," or a repeating portion that separates sections of the plot, is a common feature of ballads. This kind of repetition is typical in ballads. In some situations, a few verses from the song and poem are repeated throughout, with a few slight variations as the story of the ballad develops.
Ballads' subject matter may be related to a specific location and draw on local slang or cultural practices.