Ballads: Popular Poetry

1
Ballads Popular Poetry

• Although there are no rules to ballad writing,
  the following are common elements
• supernatural elements
• tragic subject matter
• refrain

Is this the embodiment of the modern ballad?
2
Common Ballad Conventions

• Incremental repetition a phrase or sentence is
  repeated with a new element added each time
• Question and answer format the facts of a story
  are gleaned little by little from the answers

3
Common Ballad Conventions Cont.

• Conventional phrases understood by listeners to
  have meaning beyond their literal ones. Make my
  bed (narrow) is an example means that they are
  preparing for death
• Strong, simple beat verses are fairly simple,
  ballads are for the common man!

4
Conventional Phrases

• A penny for your thoughts
• A steal
• Cats got your tongue
• Bad blood
• Stab in the back
• Play possum
• Lend an ear

5
Ballads in the Modern World