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ballad
ballad in literature, short, narrative poem usually relating a single, dramatic event. Two forms of the ballad are often distinguished—the folk ballad, dating from about the 12th cent., and the literary ballad, dating from the late 18th cent.
It was ín and abóut the Mártinmas tíme, It was in the 18th cent. that the term ballad was used in England in its present sense. Scholarly interest in the folk ballad, first aroused by Bishop Percy y's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), was significantly inspired by Sir Walter Scott 's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802). Francis Child 's collection, English and Scottish Popular Ballads (5 vol., 1882–98), marked the high point of 19th-century ballad scholarship. More than 300 English and Scottish folk ballads, dating from the 12th to the 16th cent., are extant. Although the subject matter varies considerably, five major classes of the ballad can be distinguished—the historical, such as "Otterburn" and "The Bonny Earl o' Moray" ; the romantic, such as "Barbara Allan" and "The Douglas Tragedy" ; the supernatural, such as "The Wife of Usher's Well" ; the nautical, such as "Henry Martin" ; and the deeds of folk heroes, such as the Robin Hood cycle. Ballads, however, cannot be confined to any one period or place; similar subject matter appears in the ballads of other peoples. Indigenous American ballads deal mainly with cowboys, folk heroes such as Casey Jones and Paul Bunyan, the mountain folk of Kentucky and Tennessee, the Southern black, and famous outlaws, such as Jesse James: Jésse had a wífe to móurn for his lífe, During the mid-20th cent. in the United States there was a great resurgence of interest in folk music, particularly in ballads. Singers such as Joan Baez and Pete Seeger included ballads like "Bonny Barbara Allan" and "Mary Hamilton" in their concert repertoires; composer-performers such as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan wrote their own ballads. The Literary Ballad The literary ballad is a narrative poem created by a poet in imitation of the old anonymous folk ballad. Usually the literary ballad is more elaborate and complex; the poet may retain only some of the devices and conventions of the older verse narrative. Literary ballads were quite popular in England during the 19th cent. Examples of the form are found in Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci," Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and Oscar Wilde's "The Ballad of Reading Gaol." In music a ballad refers to a simple, often sentimental, song, not usually a folk song. Bibliography See D. C. Fowler, A Literary History of the Popular Ballad (1968); B. H. Bronson, The Ballad as Song (1969); J. Kinsley, ed., The Oxford Book of Ballads (1982); A. B. Friedman, ed., The Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-Speaking World (1982). |
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"ballad." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "ballad." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ballad.html "ballad." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ballad.html |
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ballad
ballad, originally a song intended as an accompaniment to a dance; hence a light, simple song of any kind, or a popular song, often one attacking persons or institutions. Broadside ballads, such as those hawked by Autolycus in The Winter's Tale, were printed on one side of a single sheet (a ‘broadside’ or ‘broadsheet’) and sold in the streets or at fairs. In the relatively recent sense, now most widely used, a ballad is taken to be a single, spirited poem in short stanzas, in which some popular story is graphically narrated (e.g. Sir Patrick Spens), and in this sense of the word the oral tradition is an essential element. In the great collection of F. J. Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads (5 vols, 1882–98), the oldest ballad is Judas (c.1300), with an uncharacteristically religious theme; ballads more traditionally deal with the pagan supernatural (e.g. Tam Lin), with tragic love (e.g. Barbara Allan), or with historical or semi-historical events, e.g. the Border ballads, or the Robin Hood ballads. There was a notable awakening of interest in the form in Britain in the 18th cent., which led to the researches and collections of Percy (Reliques, 1765) and Ritson, to the forgeries of Chatterton and the adaptations of Burns, and to the deliberate antiquarian imitations of Tickell (Lucy and Colin), Percy himself (The Hermit of Warkworth), Mallet (‘William and Margaret’), Goldsmith (‘The Hermit’), and others. Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border is a mixture of traditional ballads, adaptations, and imitations, whereas the Lyrical Ballads of Wordsworth and Coleridge manifests, in poems like ‘The Idiot Boy’ and the Ancient Mariner, their own interpretation and development of the term. The form has continued to inspire poets, from Keats (‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’) to W. Morris, Hardy, Yeats, and Causley, and flourishes in a popular folk form as well as in a more literary guise. (For ‘ballad stanza’ see metre.)
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ballad.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ballad.html |
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Ballad
Ballad, narrative poem of communal origin, transmitted by a process of oral tradition among people usually free from literary influences. Folk ballads frequently deal with common people, are presented with simplicity, have little description, and depend mainly on dialogue and incremental repetition, i.e. structural repetitions of a preceding stanza with some variation to advance the story. Metrically, the ballad is usually composed of long seven‐stress lines, conventionally printed as two lines of four and three stresses each, rhyming abcb. Among the classifications of American folk ballads are those dealing with occupations (Casey Jones of the railroad workers, Git Along, Little Dogies of the cowboys, and The Jam on Gerry's Rock of the lumberjacks), with regions (The Roving Gambler of the Kentucky and Tennessee mountains, The Buffalo Skinners of the Western plains, and the The Erie Canal Ballad), with wars (Yankee Doodle of the Revolution, and The Battle of Shiloh Hill of the Civil War), with racial groups (John Henry of the blacks), and with desperadoes (Sam Bass and Billy the Kid). Many of the ballads are of English origin, some of these surviving almost intact in the Southern mountains. Variations of the most popular ballads constitute cycles or groups, for example, those concerned with Jesse James, Frankie and Johnny, John Henry, Casey Jones, and Yankee Doodle. The many collections of American folk ballads include Louise Pound's American Ballads and Songs (1922), Sandburg's The American Songbag (1927), Lomax's American Ballads and Folk Songs (1934), and Hudson's Folksongs of Mississippi (1936). Among literary adaptations of the ballad form are Longfellow's Wreck of the Hesperus,; Hay's Pike County Ballads, Whittier's Skipper Ireson's Ride, Harte's Plain Language from Truthful James, and Lindsay's The Chinese Nightingale.
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Ballad." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Ballad." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-Ballad.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Ballad." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-Ballad.html |
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ballad
ballad.
1. Properly a song to be danced to (It. ballare, to dance) but from the 16th cent. or earlier the term has been applied to anything singable, simple, popular in style, and for solo v. 2. The word ‘ballad’ was in the 19th cent. also attached to the simpler type of ‘drawing-room song’—sometimes called ‘Shop Ballad’, possibly to distinguish it from those hawked by the ballad-seller on broadsheets. Hence the Eng. ‘Ballad Concerts’ inaugurated by the mus. publisher, John Boosey, in 1867. 3. Self-contained narrative song, such as Loewe's Edward or Schubert's Erlkönig. Also applied to certain narrative operatic arias, e.g. Senta's ballad in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer. 4. Term applied in jazz to sentimental song. |
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MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-ballad.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-ballad.html |
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ballad
ballad (Lat. ballare, to dance) Form of popular poetry which is regularly sung, narrative in style with simple metre, rhyme, and often a refrain. The first surviving examples date from medieval times, and typically consist of four-line stanzas. The ballad was a vital means of perpetuating community myth, the traditions of storytelling, and the celebration of rites. Notable later examples include Lyrical Ballads (1798), written by William Wordsworth in collaboration with Samuel Coleridge. The late-18th century revival of the ballad was central to the rise of Romanticism. It was also used by Swinburne, Sir Walter Scott, and Rudyard Kipling.
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"ballad." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "ballad." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-ballad.html "ballad." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-ballad.html |
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ballad
bal·lad / ˈbaləd/ • n. a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next as part of the folk culture. ∎ a slow sentimental or romantic song. ORIGIN: late 15th cent. (denoting a light, simple song): from Old French balade, from Provençal balada ‘dance, song to dance to,’ from balar ‘to dance,’ from late Latin ballare (see ball2 ). The sense ‘narrative poem’ dates from the mid 18th cent. |
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"ballad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "ballad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-ballad.html "ballad." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-ballad.html |
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ballad
ballad a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next as part of the folk culture. Recorded from the late 15th century (denoting a light, simple song), the word comes via Old French from Provençal balada ‘to dance’, from late Latin. The sense ‘narrative poem’ dates from the mid 18th century, and was used by Johnson in the Rambler.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "ballad." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "ballad." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-ballad.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "ballad." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-ballad.html |
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ballad
ballad [OFr. balade]. The popular composition of anonymous ballads began after the 12th century in many countries in Western Europe, including the Celtic-speaking ones. ‘Ballad’ in Modern Irish is bailéad; ScG duanag, diminutive of duan: song, cf. òran: song, laoidh: verse, song, luinneag: ditty; Manx bannag; W baled, balad; Bre. gwerz.
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JAMES MacKILLOP. "ballad." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES MacKILLOP. "ballad." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-ballad.html JAMES MacKILLOP. "ballad." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-ballad.html |
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ballad
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T. F. HOAD. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ballad.html T. F. HOAD. "ballad." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ballad.html |
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ballad
ballad
•ballad, salad
•collard, Lollard, pollard
•bicoloured (US bicolored), dullard, multicoloured (US multicolored), particoloured (US particolored), self-coloured (US self-colored), uncoloured (US uncolored), varicoloured (US varicolored), versicoloured (US versicolored)
•enamored, Muhammad
•ill-humoured (US ill-humored)
•Seanad, unmannered
•Leonard • synod • unhonoured
•Bernard, gurnard
•unhampered
•leopard, shepherd
•untempered
•Angharad, Harrod
•Herod • hundred • unanswered
•uncensored • unsponsored
•Blanchard • dastard • unchartered
•bastard • unlettered • unsheltered
•self-centred (US self-centered) • it'd
•unfiltered • unregistered • unwatered
•unaltered • dotard • untutored
•uncluttered, unuttered
•bustard, custard, mustard
•method • unbothered • Harvard
•unflavoured (US unflavored)
•lily-livered, undelivered
•undiscovered
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"ballad." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "ballad." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-ballad.html "ballad." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-ballad.html |
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