Ballad in Poetry
A ballad in poetry is a type of poem that tells a story and is often set to music. It typically follows a form of rhymed quatrains, with alternating four-stress and three-stress lines. Ballads can recount tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event. They are often plot-driven, with characters hurriedly unfurling events leading to a dramatic conclusion. The traditional ballad was an ideal form for narrative poetry that was transmitted orally because the form made the words easy to remember. Over time, poets have adapted the conventions of the folk ballad for their own original compositions, resulting in many different types of ballads. The ballad form originated in Europe in the late Middle Ages and was popularized by traveling minstrels. Since then, many writers have adapted the ballad to their own vision for new and original compositions. The term "ballad" began to connote something closer to its contemporary meaning, a slow love song, in the 19th century. Contemporary ballads, like traditional ballads, use music to talk about love, but they have no strict meter or rhyme scheme. A writer today would be most likely to write a ballad out of the desire to tell an emotional story through song.
In summary, a ballad in poetry is a narrative poem often set to music, with a focus on storytelling and emotional expression.
