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Ballad The ballad first began as a song that tells a story to the listener. Circulated as songs, this would then be passed onto generation after generation in its musical form. There was a clearly defined growth in the ballad’s popularity in the fifteenth century mainly due to the ability to print them on broadsheets, which would then be sold at fairs and markets. There are two main
forms of ballads: traditional and
street. Though there is no
chronological evidence to support, it
is believed that the traditional form
is the earliest of the two versions.
Somewhat idiosyncratic , the ballad
has more emphasis on its narrative
opposed to a complex structure. The
progression of this form has shown
many changes in its style, whereas
originally, the content was heroic, it
soon adapted that the characters were
comical, and the heroes therein were
made a mockery of. Below is a copy of The Twa Corbies, or as it is more commonly known - The Three Ravens, here the rhyme is clearly marked as well as the emphasis on certain words within the stanza.
The fourth stress from lines one and three can be dropped. Internal rhyme can be added to lines one and three so that the second and fourth stresses in the line rhyme. The form can be changed to a four-line stanza with four stresses in each, known as the long meter, The form can be altered to a four-line stanza with three stresses in each, known as a short meter. Although it sounds complex, the ballad is one of the most satisfying of poetic forms to accomplish. So have a try, we look forward to reading your submissions. Submission
Guidelines: The address to send your
ballad(s) to is:
Ballad, Forward Press
Ltd, Remus House, Woodston,
Peterborough PE2 9JX Alternatively, you can email us your poems: inbox@forwardpress.co.uk (Please include your name and postal address.) |
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