Poetry of the People Ballads were the poetry of the people, just as popular music is today. Ballads had subjects such as domestic tragedy false love the supernatural What modern popular songs can you think of that have these same subjects? 1 Song and Dance The word ballad is derived from an Old French word meaning dancing song. The structure and meter of the English ballads make it clear that they were intended to be sung to music. Listen to part of the ballad. 2 Poetry of the People The ballads of the Middle Ages were passed down orally from singer to singer had strong beats and repetition were a gift of story passed from generation to generation 3
In this ballad, has just returned from the forest. He tells his mother that all he wants to do is lie down. Is simply tired from hunting? What happened in the forest? Was there some kind of foul play, as his mother suspects? 4 Ballads are songs or songlike poems that tell stories in simple, rhythmic language. Ballads usually include sensational or tragic subject matter omitted details supernatural events a refrain a repeated word, line, or group of lines 5 incremental repetition repeating a phrase or sentence, adding a new element each time, to build suspense O where hae ye been,, my son?................................. Where gat ye your dinner,, my son?................................. What gat ye to your dinner,, my son? 6
question-and-answer format a series of questions whose answers reveal facts of the story little by little; used to build suspense O where hae ye been,, my son? O where hae ye been, my handsome young man? I hae been to the wild wood; mother, make my bed soon, For I m weary wi hunting and fain wald lie down. 7 conventional phrases word groups understood by listeners to have a meaning beyond the literal one a strong, simple beat relatively uncomplicated verse forms 8 Ballad Verse Forms Ballads are generally written in groups of four lines called stanzas. The earliest ballads were simple. Later, authors began writing so-called literary ballads with a formal abcb rhyme scheme. 9
Reading Focus: Understanding Purpose Although the author of is unknown, we can determine the author s purpose from details in the text, such as dialogue images repetition In, the mother repeats several phrases in each stanza. That repetition indicates that she loves her boy and is upset by his behavior. We can guess that the ballad s purpose is to share a tragic event with listeners. 10 Reading Focus: Understanding Purpose Into Action: As you read, note details that help you determine the purposes of the ballads. Use a chart like the one below to record your findings. Details: Purpose: Get Up and Bar the Door mother s pleading tone to move to sadness Edward, Edward 11 Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer Find It in Your Reading Repetition is an essential feature of ballads. Incremental repetition a phrase or sentence that is repeated with a new element each time helps advance the story until the climax is reached. As you read, pay special attention to the use of repetition. 12
Build Background This ballad is sung in diverse versions in several countries. The basic story varies little, but Randall is variously known as Donald, Randolph, Ramsay, Ransome, and Durango. Sometimes his last meal consists of fish, sometimes snakes. The dialect of the version you will read is Scottish. This ballad, like many others, is sung entirely as a conversation in a question-and-answer format that builds suspense. 13 Sir Thomas Percy Build Background The ballads as we know them today probably took their form in the fifteenth century, but they were not printed until Sir Thomas Percy published a number of them in 1765. Inspired by Percy, Sir Walter Scott and others traveled around the British Isles and collected the songs from the people who still sang them. 14