What is the definition of a ballad?

A ballad is a form of verse and song, typically romantic in nature. Ballads originated as folk songs and were traditionally passed down orally from generation to generation. Over time, the ballad evolved into a narrative poem or song that tells a story, often of a heroic adventure or tragic love. Though the specific structure and form of ballads can vary, they generally share some key characteristics that define the genre.

What are the key features of a ballad?

There are several distinctive features that are commonly found in ballads:

Narrative structure – Ballads tell a story, rather than expressing a single theme or idea. The story is usually presented in a straightforward, linear fashion.
Stanzaic form – Ballads consist of quatrains (four-line stanzas) with an ABCB rhyme scheme. This creates a singsong, repetitive verse structure that was easy to memorize and pass on orally.
Refrain – Many ballads incorporate a refrain, a line or stanza that repeats throughout the poem. The refrain helps unify the narrative and aids memorization.
Dialogue – Dialogue between characters is a hallmark of the ballad form. The story is conveyed through action and dramatized speech.
Repetition – To support oral transmission, ballads use repetition of lines, phrases, refrains, and rhyme schemes. This repetition helps the audience follow the narrative.
Simplified language – Ballads use simple, direct language and avoid complexity or ornate imagery. This allows them to be easily understood and remembered.
Impersonal tone – Ballads are narrated objectively in the third person. The narrator feels distant from the characters and events described.

These core features allowed ballads to be passed down orally through generations before being written down. The simple structure, repetitiveness, and impersonal tone differentiate ballads from other poetic forms.

What are some common ballad themes and subjects?

Though ballads cover a wide range of topics, some subjects and themes appear frequently across the genre:

Heroic feats – Many traditional ballads focus on the exploits of heroes, warriors, and outlaws. Robin Hood ballads are a classic example.
Disasters – Shipwrecks, fires, floods, and other disasters often provide the backdrop for ballads.
Supernatural events – Ballads may contain mystical, spooky, or magical happenings and creatures.
Tragedy – Death, murder, execution, suicide, and fatal love are prevalent tragic themes in ballads.
Romance and relationships – Stories of romantic love and relationships – whether happy or tragic – are very common ballad subjects.
Rural life – The struggles and events of rustic country life, like farming and shepherding, appear frequently in traditional ballads.
Outlaws and criminals – Many ballads highlight daring outlaws and their dramatic crimes.
Social commentary – Some ballads provide commentary on social issues like class, religion, economics, and gender roles.

These popular topics lent themselves well to the dramatic, narrative structure of balladry. Though ballads cover a diverse range of subjects, their themes often revolve around heroic deeds, tragic love, supernatural encounters, and remarkable events.

What are some key examples of traditional ballads?

Many iconic and influential ballads have endured through the oral tradition or literary canon. Here are some of the most famous and impactful traditional ballads:

“Barbara Allen” – This classic English ballad tells the tale of a woman scorned in love. It remains one of the most widely-collected traditional ballads.
“The Twa Sisters” – Also called “The Two Sisters,” this murder ballad appears in many variants across Europe. It details a girl drowning her sister out of jealousy over a man.
“The Unquiet Grave” – This supernatural English ballad features a faithful lover trying to reconnect with his dead betrothed by digging up her grave.
“The Wife of Usher’s Well” – Originating in Scotland, this ballad follows a mother’s grief over the loss of her sons to the sea. Their ghosts return to briefly comfort her.
“Lord Randall” – In this dramatic murder ballad, Lord Randall is poisoned by his lover and confesses his demise to his family.
“Ballad of Chevy Chase” – One of the oldest surviving English ballads, this recounts a bloody medieval battle between English and Scottish raiders.
“Get Up and Bar the Door” – This humorous Scottish ballad tells of a quick-thinking wife who outsmarts her drunken husband and locks him out of the house.
“The Ballad of Barbara Allen” – In this version of the classic tale, Barbara Allen’s cruel rejection of her dying lover comes back to haunt her.

These ballads and hundreds more have endured through generations, translated into many languages and passed down orally. They form the foundation of the ballad tradition in English, Scottish, and Scandinavian cultures.

How did ballads originate and evolve?

Ballads have their roots in ancient folk songs and poems, used to tell stories and pass on information before writing was widespread. They emerged as a defined poetic form in Europe sometime in the Middle Ages.

Scholars generally classify ballads into two types based on age and provenance:

Traditional ballads – Also called “folk ballads,” these are very old anonymous songs and poems that were transmitted orally. They include fantasy elements and have roots in the Middle Ages but continued evolving over centuries. The authors, origins, and exact ages are unknown.
Literary ballads – These ballads were composed by known authors and written down from early on, rather than being passed on orally. Literary ballads became popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Notable literary balladeers include Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, and Alfred Lord Tennyson.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, scholars and poets like Bishop Thomas Percy began to collect, transcribe, and publish volumes of traditional ballad lyrics. This helped preserve and spread traditional ballads that might otherwise have been lost.

In the 20th century, influential folk music artists like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan helped popularize the ballad form. The genre continues to evolve today, with modern artists creating new ballads in traditional styles.

What are the different variations of ballad form?

Over the centuries, many specialized forms of the ballad have also emerged. Some key ballad variations include:

Lyric ballads – Ballads focusing on a poetic theme or emotion rather than a narrative. Wordsworth and Coleridge’s “Lyrical Ballads” collection pioneered this form.
Literary ballads – Ballads composed by sophisticated, urban poets rather than anonymous rural bards. They have more complex language and themes.
Broadside ballads – Ballads printed on large sheets of paper and sold as street literature in the 16th-18th centuries. They were an early form of mass media.
Cowboy ballads – Ballads that came out of the American West telling stories of cowboys, outlaws, and pioneer life. “Home on the Range” is a famous example.
Hillbilly ballads – Ballads of the rural South and Appalachian Mountains, dealing with common folk’s lives. They heavily influenced country music.
Murder ballads – A dramatic subgenre dealing with killings, death, execution, grief, and murderers. “Omie Wise” and “Knoxville Girl” are examples.
Blues ballads – Blues songs with ballad structure and themes. Ma Rainey’s “Ballad of Sorrow” is a seminal blues ballad.
Rock ballads – Slow, emotional ballads performed with rock instrumentation, such as power ballads performed by bands like Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses, and Bon Jovi.

This list just scratches the surface of the many types of ballads that have emerged over time. The basic ballad form has proven extremely adaptable to new themes, genres, and musical styles.

What is the poetic and musical form of a ballad?

Though ballads vary widely, most conform to a distinct poetic structure and rhyme scheme:

Quatrains – Ballads consist of four-line stanzas or quatrains.
ABCB rhyme scheme – Each quatrain follows an ABCB rhyme scheme in which the second and fourth lines rhyme. The odd-numbered “A” and “C” lines may also rhyme.
Iambic meter – The lines generally use iambic tetrameter, meaning they have four iambic metrical feet. This gives ballads a characteristic da-DUM, da-DUM rhythm.
Rhymed refrains – A rhymed line or stanza repeats as a refrain throughout the ballad, acting as a chorus.

Musically, ballads tend to have a simple, repetitive melodic and chord structure. Folk ballads were traditionally sung unaccompanied or with sparse instrumentation. Later balladeers accompanied them with instruments like guitars, pianos, and orchestras.

The combination of rhyming stanzas, strong rhythm, and repetition in the lyrics creates a musical, memorable quality that supported oral transmission of ballads.

What are some key collections of ballads?

Some pivotal early ballad anthologies that helped preserve the form and catalyze scholarly interest include:

Reliques of Ancient English Poetry – Bishop Thomas Percy’s 1765 collection of traditional ballad lyrics and analysis.
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border – A collection of border ballads by Sir Walter Scott published from 1802-1803.
English and Scottish Popular Ballads – Francis James Child’s landmark 1882-1898 compendium of 305 ballads.
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads – Bertrand Bronson’s expansive 5-volume collection published between 1972-1988.
The New Oxford Book of Ballads – A modern collection of ballad lyrics gathered in 1992 by Katharine Briggs and Ruth L. Woods.

These books helped cement the ballad as a vital genre and sparked wider appreciation of traditional ballads as cultural and literary artifacts.

How did ballads influence other forms of literature and music?

As a distinct poetic form, the ballad has had far-reaching influence across literature, theater, and music:

Oral storytelling – Ballads were a precursor to oral epics and narrative poetry.
Early print literature – Broadside ballads were among the first mass-produced print works.
Romantic poetry – Romantic poets sought to imitate the simplicity and common themes of folk ballads.
Gothic novels – Gothic writers incorporated supernatural ballad themes like ghosts, death, and gloom.
Musical theater – Musicals and folk operas adopted dramatic ballad storylines and songs.
Country music – Hillbilly ballads were progenitors of modern country, bluegrass, and folk music.
Rock music – Ballad structure and themes influenced the development of rock ballads and power ballads.

This cultural influence demonstrates the ballad’s versatility and timeless appeal. The narrative structure, themes, and poetic form pioneered by ballads continue to permeate literature and music centuries later.

What was the impact of ballad collectors like Francis James Child?

In the 18th and 19th centuries, antiquarian scholars and collectors like Francis James Child recognized the cultural value of traditional ballads. They sought to catalog, transcribe, analyze, and publish ballads before they disappeared from the oral tradition. Francis James Child’s impact includes:

Preserving hundreds of ballads by documenting lyrics that might otherwise have been lost forever.
Allowing analysis of ballad structure, themes, rhyme schemes, and origin.
Traced connections between ballad stories across cultures by identifying variations.
Helped popularize ballads by making them accessible in print form to wider audiences.
Established ballads as a distinct poetic form and sparked academic interest in studying folk culture.
Influenced poets, novelists, and composers who read Child’s ballad collections.

Child and his contemporaries played a pivotal role in ensuring the ballad not only survived but came to be appreciated as a vital literary and musical genre.

How do ballads continue to influence music today?

The lyrical structure, narrative content, and emotional themes of ballads continue to influence modern songwriting across many genres:

Folk revival – 1960s folk singers like Joan Baez and Bob Dylan brought renewed interest to traditional ballads and ballad-style songs.
Country/Americana – Modern country songwriters emulate the plaintive storytelling style of ballads.
Soft/acoustic rock – Artists like Elton John, U2, and Adele carry on the ballad tradition.
Heavy metal – Even “power ballads” by hard rock bands are modeled after the dramatic ballad form.
K-Pop – South Korean pop ballads follow ballad structure but with modern electronic/dance beats.
Neo-folk – Contemporary folk artists create new socially-conscious ballads in traditional styles.

Whether indirectly through oral transmission or directly from literary collections, the poetic ballad continues to shape lyrical storytelling in modern music. Its influence persists in the narrative songs of artists across nearly every genre.

Conclusion

For centuries, the ballad has served as an important form of musical storytelling, passing on tales, legends, and history through verse and song. Though ballad origins are obscured by time, these narrative poems evolved into a distinct genre frequently dealing in romantic, supernatural, and tragic themes. The ballad’s resonance and adaptability allowed it to profoundly shape other literary and musical forms right up to the present day. Ballads remain appreciated as cultural artifacts that provide insight into the languages, cultures, and values of the pastoral peoples who first shaped them. Through collections, analysis, and continual reinterpretation by musicians, the vibrant legacy of the ballad continues.