BALLADS

Goh Qin Kai Nurul Atiqah Anis Wardah Nur Hawa Keffeny Ann

Definition
A form of narrative poetry meant to be sung
or recited and characterized by its presentation of a dramatic or exciting episode in simple narrative form. Historically ballads were passed down orally from person to person rather than in writing.

Characteristics

General characteristics of ballad

Incidents are usually such as happen to common people

(as opposed to nobility)

Ballads deal with:

Strong elemental passions of humanity Powerfully depicted love

Hatred, faith, revenge, fear, courage, loyalty

Many involve the supernatural and end tragically

General characteristics of ballad

Slight attention is paid to characterization or

description Tragic situations are presented with the utmost simplicity Incremental repetition is common A single episode of a highly dramatic nature is presented is brought to closure with some sort of summary stanza or the ending of the domestic episode

Structure

Ballad stanza
four lines rhyming ABCB where the second and

fourth lines rhyme and are often shorter than the first and third lines
first and third lines carrying four accented syllables

(iambic tetrameter)
second and fourth lines carrying three accented

syllables (iambic trimeter).

 Rhyme often approximate, with consonance and

assonance frequently appearing

As well as using rhyme, ballads are good examples of the use of regular rhythm in poetry. Rhythm is the number of beats or stresses in a line.

Rhyme & Rhythm

 Ballads usually have a regular, steady

rhythm, a simple rhyme pattern, all of which make them easy to memorize.

The King was sick. His cheek was red

And his eye was clear and bright; He ate and drank with a kingly zest

Rhyme

B
C

And peacefully snored at night. B Look closely at the rhyme of the above verse. Only the second and fourth lines rhyme.

But he said he was sick and a king should know And doctors came by the score; They could not cure him so he cut off their heads And sent to the schools for more.

A B C B

Rhyme

Rhythm - by counting the number of beats in each line Read the verse out loud and try tapping the table to determine

how many beats are in each line.

The King was sick. His cheek was red And his eye was clear and bright;

= stress of words

4 3
4

He ate and drank with a kingly zest

And peacefully snored at night.

Themes

 A ballad is a songlike poem that tells a

story, often a sad story of betrayal,

death, or loss.
Other frequent themes of ballads are

love, death, physical courage, revenge

Early Ballads often included:

Tragic love
Domestic conflicts Wars Shipwrecks Sensational crimes Exploits of outlaws

Later ballads often included:

Historical events
Romantic heroes
These

ballads were written toward was accepted as a

end of the Middle Ages when

English

language of literary merit.

BALLAD OF BIRMINGHAM

BALLAD OF BIRMINGHAM BY DUDLEY RANDALL

(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)

Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today? No, baby, no, you may not go, For the dogs are fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails Arent good for a little child. But, mother, I wont be alone. Other children will go with me, And march the streets of Birmingham To make our country free. No, baby, no, you may not go, For I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead And sing in the childrens choir.

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair, And bathed rose petal sweet, And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, And white shoes on her feet. The mother smiled to know her child Was in the sacred place, But that smile was the last smile To come upon her face. For when she heard the explosion, Her eyes grew wet and wild. She raced through the streets of Birmingham Calling for her child. She clawed through bits of glass and brick, Then lifted out a shoe. O, heres the shoe my baby wore, But, baby, where are you?

 This poem is a historical ballad.

Inscription -- (On the bombing of a church in

Birmingham, Alabama, 1963) Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Pastor was MLK, Jr. Four young black girls killed as a result of bombing + 20 others injured.

Features

The incidents mentioned in The Ballad of Birmingham do happen to common people E.g : The bombing, the racial rally, a mother loses her daughter.

The Ballad of Birmingham deal with:

Strong elemental passions of humanity

The child wanted to join the march to make the country free from racial discrimination.

Powerfully depicted love from a mother towards her daughter

The mother worried about her daughters safety when she insisted to go to the march.

Faith, fear, courage

The ballad shows the faith of the mother about the church being the sacred place, offers safety for her daughter. The ballad shows the fear of the mother in two occasions. Firstly, is when her daughter told her that she wanted to join the march and secondly, is when she heard the explosion. The ballad also shows the courage of the young child who wanted to join the march to make her country free.

Structure
The Ballad of Birmingham ; Has stanzas of a quatrain Has rhyme pattern 2nd and 4th lines rhyme is metered (has rhythm pattern) though not same in all stanzas

Structure
Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today?
No, baby, no, you may not go, For the dogs are fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails Arent good for a little child.

a b c b
8 7 8 7

four lines rhyming ABCB where the second and

fourth lines
rhyme and are shorter than the first and third lines

Rhythm and Rhyme

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair, And bathed rose petal sweet, And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, And white shoes on her feet. The mother smiled to know her child Was in the sacred place, But that smile was the last smile To come upon her face.
Only the second and fourth lines rhyme.

The poem is metered (has rhythm pattern) though not same in all stanzas

Language used
There are many literary devices that have been used by Dudley

Randall in the poem Ballad of Birmingham. One of the literary devices used is alliteration.

For example, we can see the use of alliteration in several lines such as

for I fear those guns will fire and her eyes grew wet and wild.

The poet also uses repetition in his poem. For example, no, baby, no, you may not go, to emphasise that the mother prohibits the daughter from joining the march. Furthermore, the poet also use assonance in line and bathed rose

petal sweet, and drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, and white shoes on her feet The next is irony in line the mother smiled to know that her child was in the sacred place.
child to church in order to protect her but reality struck her hard for being at church leads to her death.

This sets up the focus on the irony of the situation: Mother sends her

Themes
Mother-daughter love
Patriotism Innocence

Mother-Daughter Love
The mother loves her daughter dearly. She wants the best for her

daughter and treats her lovingly. The repetition of line No baby, no, you may not go and for I fear those guns will fire shows the feeling of a mother who refused to let her child go march the streets of Birmingham because she knows that it was very dangerous for her child to be there. Textual evidence : She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair, And bathed rose petal sweet, And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, And white shoes on her feet. From the evidence above, it shows how the mother treats her child with love and care.

Patriotism
Instead of going out to play, the young child wanted to go and

join the Freedom March in order to make the country free. Although her mother refused to let her go, she insisted to go. Textual evidence : Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today? But, mother, I wont be alone. Other children will go with me, And march the streets of Birmingham To make our country free.

Trust
The Ballad of Birmingham also portrays the theme of

innocence. When the child insisted to join the march, the mother asked her to go to church instead, innocently believing that such a sacred dwelling is more than sufficiently safe for her daughter to be present at. The line the mother smiled to know that her child was in the sacred place shows that she is happy and she believes that her daughter is safe by going to the church instead of joining the march. However, that happiness immediately turns to grief and loneliness when she heard the explosion. The line her eyes grew wet and wild.. shows that what really happened differs from her belief and expectation.

THE END