THE BALLAD

 The ballad is a lyrical folk song. It is mainly sung by minstrels and folk-dancers.  It is a simple short story in verse. The subject matter is common events and actions. The theme may be love, war, adventure, harvesting and so on. Sometimes the themes are fierce or tragic. There is a ballad measure in which it is written. The first line contains four iambs and the second, three iambs. The second and fourth lines rhyme with each other. Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is written in this measure:

The ice  /   was here  / the ice  / was there,

12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The ice  / was all  /  a round

It crack’d  /  and growld  /  and roar’d /  and howl’d             Rhymed words

Like nois/  es in  / a swound.

Keats’ La Belle Dam Sans Merci is also a ballad. He also changes the measure slightly at places.

She took / me to / her elf/ in grot

And there / she wept / and sighed  / full sore

And there / I shut / her wild  /  wild eyes

With kiss  / es  four.

Above lines may have four iambs in first three lines and two iambs in last line but the rhyme scheme is the same.

            There are two kinds of ballads—the authentic and the literary.  The authentic ballads are of unknown authorship. They were sung by a strolling singer or singers, who earned their livelihood by singing. They offered entertainment to listeners. They were sung to the accompaniment of a harp or musical instrument. Chevy Chase and The Wife of Usher’s Well are well- known authentic ballads.

            The literary ballad is an emulation of the traditional form in matter and manner. Keats’ La Belle Dame Sans Merci  and Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner are literary. There is also the mock ballad, which treats the theme comically. Cowper’s John Gilpin is a good example of a mock ballad.

The ballad, usually, begins abruptly.