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DEFINITION: A ballad tells a story, using rhyme to establish a regular cadence. The plot-driven poem has characters and rich imagery to show the narrative.ORIGIN: Began in European folk tradition. Originally orally shared until much later in the 15th-17th centuries when they were written down. Ballads often spoke of love, crime, social issues, and tragedy.
LINES: No establish number of lines. RHYME PATTERN: Tends to be alternating line rhymes, but it is common to see AABB within the rhyme pattern. STANZAS: Quatrains OTHER NOTES: Lines may contain only a handful of stresses. EXAMPLES: Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” begins: It is an ancient mariner And he stoppeth one of three. —“By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stoppest thou me? The bridegroom’s doors are opened wide, And I am next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set: Mayst hear the merry din.” He holds him with his skinny hand, “There was a ship,“ quoth he. “Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!” Eftsoons his hand dropped he.
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