An introduction to ballads Learning objectives: to introduce our new topic, and to explore different attitudes to poems

Introduction ‘Poetry is to prose what dancing is to walking’ John Wain With a friend, try to make sense of what this means. (PROSE means written words in their ordinary structure)

Now read the following quotes Now read the following quotes. Be ready to share your thoughts on each one. Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. T. S. Eliot Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. Kahlil Gibran Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat. Robert Frost Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful. Rita Dove

In this topic You will learn about the history and conventions of ballads You will read a range of ballads by different writers You will be able to talk about the different techniques poets use to create an effect You will write an analysis of the language in a ballad You will write your own ballad

Ballads A ballad is a simple song or poem which tells a story – a type of narrative poem. Ballads usually focus on the more sensational aspects of life – supernatural happenings, violence, scandal, forbidden love or the exploits of infamous criminals – rather like the tabloid newspapers of today. Ballads have been composed for many centuries – some probably date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They were part of ordinary people’s culture.

Ballads continued Ballads would often change over time. New verses might be added or old ones removed, as each new person who told or sang the ballad would adapt it a little, or remember it slightly differently. Sometimes archaic language is changed in ballads, but often it remains. Changes in the words used are the most noticeable form of language change in English. Some words (sometimes called archaic words or archaisms) have died out altogether, while new words are always being added to the language.

Ballad form The traditional folk ballad form varies but usually includes these features: simple direct speech a minimum of description regular stanzas of four lines each impersonal third-person narrative viewpoint (e.g. ‘He went/They went’ not ‘I went’) line 2 rhyming with line 4 These features make ballads easier to remember and learn by heart. a strong, regular rhythm simple language – words of one or two syllables repetition or a refrain