Simple language.

Ballad poems feature language that people can

understand without specialist training or
repeated readings
The choice of the ballad form generally implies
a similar emphasis on simple language.
Stories.

Ballads tend to be narrative poems
Poems that tell stories
Has a specific storyline
(Plot -> Climax -> Ending)
Ballad stanzas.

The traditional ballad stanza consists of four
lines, rhymed abcb (or sometimes abab--the key
is that the second and fourth lines rhyme).
Repetition.

A ballad often has a refrain, a repeated section
that divides segments of the story
Lines can be repeated but each time a certain
word is changed
A question and answer format can be built into a
ballad: one stanza asks a questions and the next
stanza answers the question

Narration.

Ballad narrators usually speak in the first person(
as a character in the story)
They often do not comment on their reactions to
the emotional content of the poem

On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out of the door.

It rolled in the garden,
And under a bush,
And then my poor meatball,
Was nothing but mush.

So if you eat spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
Hold on to your meatball,
Whenever you sneeze.