CLASS: SENIOR TWO
COURSE CONTENTS
UNIT I: KEY ASPECTS OF PROSE
UNIT II: SUBJECT, THEMES AND MESSAGES
UNIT III: LITERARY DEVICES AND AUDIENCE
UNIT IV: BALLADS
UNIT V: POETIC DEVICES
UNIT VI: SUBJECT, THEME AND CONTEXT
UNIT VII: DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES
UNIT VIII: SUBJECT MATTER, THEME AND MESSAGE
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UNIT IV: BALLADS
IV.0. INTRODUCTION
A ballad is a poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. A ballad is often sung. It is a story in a poetic form.
The ballad is also a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. It is a type of poem that is sometimes set to music. It is a type of poem that tells a story and was traditionary set to music.
IV.1. CHARACTERISTICS OF BALLADS
- Ballads always make use of simple and easy to understand language.
- Usually ballads comprise stories about hardships, tragedies, love and romance.
- Ballads usually have certain lines that recur at regular interval.
- Some ballads are made up of questions and appropriate answers to every question they ask.
- Ballads seldom offer a direct message about a certain event, character or situation. It is left to the audience to deduce the moral of the story from the whole narration.
Ex1: Ballad of A Lonely Road by Saurabh Jairath
I walk a lonely road
Away from abode
A path not much taken
I fear its far away
I started to sway
Have I been mistaken
The bells are ringing
The birds are singing
But no one can hear the words I have spoken
The powerful words
The ballad of swords
The battle rages till the war is forsaken
The journey to wisdom
The legendary kingdom
The principle of truth has just awoken
I will tread till the end
Maybe find a friend
And just hope that I am not forgotten
Its lonely road I take
A journey to the beautiful lake
I will need all the wisdom
To take me to the end
Carry me through this bend
If only a friend can lend a hand….
Ex2: Song and Ballad by Jerry Liu
As I was walking down the street
I saw two people in secret meet
The second one said to the first
‘You have some news to quench my thirst?’
‘In behind the old, damp shed
There lies a noble man slain, dead
And no one knows he lies in strife
Except his dog and lonely wife
With master gone where no one knocks
His dog has left to chase a fox
His wife has found somebody new
His house is left for all to view
Though it’s been empty for a while
We’ll be warm and dry in half a mile
For now we can take comfort there
We’ll flee the place when it grows bare
Many people knew the noble man
But none do care where he has gone
Over his grave, all do ignore
The wind shall blow forever more.
OTHER TYPES OF POEMS
An ode: It is a poem that speaks to a person or thing or celebrates a special event.
It is a kind of poem devoted to praise a person, an animal or thing.
An epic: A long poem about the actions of great men, women or about a nation’s history.
An elegy: – It is a poem or a song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person.
–It is a poem/song that expresses sadness especially for someone who has died.
– It is also a mournful or funeral song or a poem of lamentation.
A duet: It is a poem with two lines in each stanza.
A sonnet: It is a poem of fourteen lines using any number of formal rhyme scheme and has ten syllables per line.
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