USAGE: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek, Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology
Term: Ballad. Strictly, a ballad is a form of poetry that alternates lines of four and three beats, often in quatrains, rhymed abab, and often telling a story-the anonymous poem 'Sir Patrick Spens' and Wordsworth's A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal demonstrate this well.erm: Ballad. Strictly, a ballad is a form of poetry that alternates lines of four and three beats, often in quatrains, rhymed abab, and often telling a story-the anonymous poem 'Sir Patrick Spens' and Wordsworth's A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal demonstrate this well.
Common traits of the ballad are that (a) the beginning is often abrupt, (b) the story is told through dialogue and action (c) the language is simple or folksy, (d) the theme is often tragic--though comic ballads do exist, and (e) the ballad contains a refrain repeated several times.