EARLY BALLAD OFTEN INCLUDE Tragic love Domestic conflicts Wars Shipwrecks Sensational crimes Exploits of outlaws

Later The Ballad also include:

BALLAD
Definition : A simple narrative poem, often of folk origin, bearing romantic and sentimental character, composed in short stanzas. Historical events Romantic heroes

These ballads were written toward end of the Middle Ages when English was accepted as a language of literary merit.

Ballads often deal with supernatural events tell sensational or tragic stories CHARCTERISTIC have a strong, simple beat use a great deal of repetition Refraina repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines Incremental repetitiona phrase or sentence with a new element added each time it is repeated Use a question-and-answer format Omit details Contain conventional phrases that have meanings beyond their literal ones The phrases make my bed or make my bed narrow mean that the characters are preparing for death

STRUCTURE

Ballads are often written in ballad stanzas, which usually have four lines: Four accented syllables in lines one and three Three accented syllables in lines two and four An abcb rhyme scheme