5 steps to write a ballad poem
Learn how to write an interesting ballad poem with this easy 5-step guide. Discover the types of ballads, their structure, and examples.
Ballad poems have been written for a very long time. People used to sing them to tell stories before books were common.
These poems are special because they often talk about exciting adventures, love, or important events in history.
Many famous writers like William Wordsworth and Edgar Allan Poe wrote ballads that we still enjoy today.
According to the National Endowment for the Arts, 65% of poetry workshops use ballads to teach narrative techniques.
Writing a ballad can be interesting and easy if you follow some simple steps.
In this guide, we'll show you how to write your own ballad poem.
You'll learn how to choose a topic, set up your poem, and use rhymes to make it sound good.
So, let's get started!
Ballad Poem Definition
A ballad poetry is like a story told in song. It's a kind of poetry that tells a tale, often about exciting events, brave heroes, or deep emotions.
Ballads usually have a pattern in how they're written.
They use four-line groups called stanzas, and the second and fourth lines of each stanza often rhyme.
Ballads are meant to be easy to remember and share. They often repeat certain lines or phrases to help people recall the story.
These poems can be about all sorts of things - love, adventure, history, or even made-up stories.
Ballads are special because they mix storytelling with the beauty of poetry, making them fun to read.
Types of ballad poem
These are the types of ballad poem:
1. Traditional ballads or folk ballads
These are old stories passed down by people talking or singing.
They're about things that happened long ago, like brave heroes or big events. No one knows who wrote them first.
These ballads often change a little as different people tell them over time.
They use simple words and have a beat that's easy to remember.
2. Literary ballads
Writers create these ballads on purpose. They're like the old folk ballads but made by known authors.
These ballads might be about made-up stories or real events.
They often use complex words and have more detailed descriptions. Famous poets, like Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wrote this kind of ballad.
3. Broadside ballads
These were like old-time news stories in poem form. People printed them on big sheets of paper called broadsides.
They told about current events, scandals, or popular tales.
Singers would perform these on the streets, spreading news and entertainment.
They were an important way for people to learn about what was happening in the world.
4. Modern ballads
These are ballads written in recent times. They keep some old ballad rules but mix in new ideas.
Modern ballads might be about today's issues or feelings. They can be serious or funny.
Some popular songs are actually modern ballads, telling stories through music and words.
5. Lyrical ballads
This type mixes story-telling with deep feelings. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge made these famous.
They write about nature and everyday life, but in a way that shows strong emotions.
These ballads help readers feel connected to the story and the poet's thoughts.
As you explore the world of ballads, you might be surprised to discover their influence in modern music.
In fact, many popular songs today follow the ballad tradition, leading to moments like this:
"When you realize your favorite song is a modern ballad"
"And you've been singing ballads all along."
Ballad poem structure
The basic structure of ballad poem is:
Quatrains
Ballad poems are built using quatrains. These are groups of four lines that work together.
Each quatrain tells a part of your story. They help organize your ideas and make the poem easy to follow.
Rhyme scheme (ABCB or ABAB)
Ballads have a special way of rhyming. Usually, the second and fourth lines of each quatrain rhyme.
We call this ABCB. Sometimes, the first and third lines rhyme too, making it ABAB.
This rhyme pattern helps the poem sound nice.
Meter (Iambic tetrameter and Iambic trimeter)
Meter is the rhythm of your poem. In ballads, we often use iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
Tetrameter means four beats, and trimeter means three beats.
The rhythm goes like this: da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM.
Narrative focus
Ballads are all about telling a story. Your ballad should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
It might be about an adventure, a historical event, or even a made-up tale.
The important thing is to keep your story moving from start to finish, just like in a good book.
Repetition (Refrain)
Many ballads use repetition, especially something called a refrain.
A refrain is a line or group of lines that you repeat in your poem.
This repetition helps emphasize important parts of your story and makes your ballad more memorable.
It can also help tie different parts of your story together.
Length (10 to 20 stanzas)
Ballads are usually pretty long poems. They often have between 10 and 20 stanzas.
This allows you to tell your complete story.
But don't worry if your ballad is shorter or longer – the most important thing is telling your story well.
Simple language
When writing a ballad, it's best to use simple words that are easy to understand.
You don't need complex words or complicated sentences.
Clear and straightforward language helps your readers follow the story and enjoy the poem.
Dialogue
Many ballads include dialogue, which means characters in your story talking to each other.
This can make your poem more interesting and help bring your characters to life.
How to write in 5 steps
You can create your own story by following these steps:
1. Choose a story or theme
First, pick what your ballad will be about. It could be a fun adventure, a sad love story, or something exciting that happened to you.
Think of the main characters and what happens to them. Your story should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Make sure it's something you find interesting, as this will help you write a better ballad.
2. Plan your structure
Now, let's set up how your poem will look.
In ballad’s quatrains, each line should have a certain number of beats, like music.
Try to make the second and fourth lines of each group rhyme.
This is called a rhyme scheme, and it helps your poem sound nice.
Planning this out before you start writing will make the next steps easier.
3. Begin writing your verses
Start putting your story into poem form. Write about what happens, using the structure you planned.
Don't worry if it's not perfect right away. Just get your ideas down on paper.
However, keep your lines short and try to stick to your rhyme plan.
If you get stuck, take a break and come back to it later. Writing a ballad takes time and practice.
Moreover, you can also write your poem using an AI poem creator.
Just add your story shortly as a prompt and this tool will generate interesting poems for you.
It also allows you to choose your desired length and creativity for the poem.
4. Develop your narrative
As you write, focus on the important parts of your story.
Use words that help readers show what's happening, like describing how things look, sound, or feel.
If your characters talk, you can include what they say. This makes your ballad more exciting and real.
5. Refine and edit
After you've written your ballad, it's time to make it better. Fix any parts that don't rhyme well or sound awkward.
Make sure your story makes sense from start to finish.
You might need to change some words or lines to make everything fit together nicely.
Don't be afraid to ask someone else to read it and give you feedback.
Writing a ballad can be exciting, but it's easy to get carried away with your storytelling.
You might find yourself so engaged in your tale that before you know it...
"When you finally finish writing your ballad"
"And realize you've written 20 stanzas instead of 4"
10 famous Ballad poem examples
Here are some famous ballad poems:
1. The Road Not Taken
Poet: Robert Frost
Written in: 1916
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Summary
In this poem, the speaker stands at a fork in the woods and chooses the less traveled path.
They believe this choice has made a big difference in their life, even though both paths seemed similar at first.
2. La Belle Dame sans Merci
Poet: John Keats
Written in: 1819
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
‘I love thee true’.
She took me to her Elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lullèd me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Thee hath in thrall!’
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Ballad poems about love
Summary
The poem is about a knight who meets a beautiful fairy-like woman.
She enchants him, but after a dream filled with warnings from other pale, doomed men, he wakes up alone and heartbroken on a cold hillside.
3. The Ballad of Lucy Jordan
Poet: Shel Silverstein
Written in: 1974
The morning sun touched lightly on
The eyes of Lucy Jordan
In her white suburban bedroom
In a white suburban town,
As she lay there 'neath the covers,
Dreaming of a thousand lovers,
Till the world turned to orange
And the room went spinning 'round.
At the age of 37
She realized she'd never ride
Through Paris in a sports car
With the warm wind in her hair.
So she let the phone keep ringing
As she sat there, softly singing
Little nursery rhymes she'd memorized
In her daddy's easy chair.
Her husband is off to work,
And the kids are off to school,
And there were, oh, so many ways
For her to spend the day:
She could clean the house for hours
Or rearrange the flowers
Or run naked through the shady streets,
Screaming all the way!
At the age of 37
She realized she'd never ride
Through Paris in a sports car
With the warm wind in her hair.
So she let the phone keep ringing
As she sat there, softly singing
Little nursery rhymes she'd memorized
In her daddy's easy chair.
The evening sun touched gently on
The eyes of Lucy Jordan
On the roof top, where she climbed
When all the laughter grew too loud.
And she bowed and curtsied to the man
Who reached and offered her his hand,
And he led her down to the long white car
That waited past the crowd.
At the age of 37
She knew she'd found forever,
As she rolled along through Paris
With the warm wind in her hair.
Summary
The poem tells the story of Lucy Jordan, a 37-year-old woman who realizes she'll never live out her dreams, like riding through Paris in a sports car.
Feeling trapped, she finds peace in her imagination and escapes her reality.
4. The Lover: A Ballad
Poet: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Written in: 1715
At length, by so much importunity press'd,
Take, C——, at once, the inside of my breast;
This stupid indiff'rence so often you blame,
Is not owing to nature, to fear, or to shame:
I am not as cold as a virgin in lead,
Nor is Sunday's sermon so strong in my head:
I know but too well how time flies along,
That we live but few years, and yet fewer are young.
But I hate to be cheated, and never will buy
Long years of repentance for moments of joy,
Oh! was there a man (but where shall I find
Good sense and good nature so equally join'd?)
Would value his pleasure, contribute to mine;
Not meanly would boast, nor would lewdly design;
Not over severe, yet not stupidly vain,
For I would have the power, tho' not give the pain.
No pedant, yet learned; no rake-helly gay,
Or laughing, because he has nothing to say;
To all my whole sex obliging and free,
Yet never be fond of any but me;
In public preserve the decorum that's just,
And shew in his eyes he is true to his trust;
Then rarely approach, and respectfully bow,
But not fulsomely pert, nor yet foppishly low.
But when the long hours of public are past,
And we meet with champagne and a chicken at last,
May ev'ry fond pleasure that moment endear;
Be banish'd afar both discretion and fear!
Forgetting or scorning the airs of the crowd,
He may cease to be formal, and I to be proud.
Till lost in the joy, we confess that we live,
And he may be rude, and yet I may forgive.
And that my delight may be solidly fix'd,
Let the friend and the lover be handsomely mix'd;
In whose tender bosom my soul may confide,
Whose kindness can soothe me, whose counsel can guide.
From such a dear lover as here I describe,
No danger should fright me, no millions should bribe;
But till this astonishing creature I know,
As I long have liv'd chaste, I will keep myself so.
I never will share with the wanton coquette,
Or be caught by a vain affectation of wit.
The toasters and songsters may try all their art,
But never shall enter the pass of my heart.
I loath the lewd rake, the dress'd fopling despise:
Before such pursuers the nice virgin flies:
And as Ovid has sweetly in parable told,
We harden like trees, and like rivers grow cold.
Summary
This poem expresses a woman's desire for a perfect partner who is kind, smart, and true to her.
She wants a loving relationship but will stay true to herself until she finds the right person.
5. The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Poet: Oscar Wilde
Written in: 1898
He did not wear his scarlet coat,
For blood and wine are red,
And blood and wine were on his hands
When they found him with the dead,
The poor dead woman whom he loved,
And murdered in her bed.
He walked amongst the Trial Men
In a suit of shabby gray;
A cricket cap was on his head,
And his step seemed light and gay;
But I never saw a man who looked
So wistfully at the day. (continue)
Summary
"The Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde tells the sad story of a man in prison who is sentenced to death.
The poem reflects on the harshness of prison life and the deep sorrow and regret felt by the prisoners.
Conclusion
Writing a ballad poem can be an interesting way to tell a story through poetry.
However, ballads are special because they mix storytelling with rhythm and rhyme.
By following these steps we talked about, you can create your own ballad poem.
Don't worry if it's not perfect at first - practice makes it better.
The most important thing is to enjoy the process.
Why not give it a try? Start writing your own ballad today and share it with others.
FAQs
1. What is the typical rhyme scheme for a ballad?
The most common rhyme scheme for a ballad is ABCB, where the second and fourth lines of each quatrain rhyme.
2. What kind of meter is used in ballad poems?
Ballads often use iambic tetrameter (four beats per line) and iambic trimeter (three beats per line) to create a rhythmic and musical quality.
3. Can I write a ballad about modern topics?
Yes! Modern ballads can address contemporary issues or themes while still following traditional ballad forms.
They can be serious or humorous, depending on your story.
4. Is dialogue important in ballads?
Yes, dialogue can make your ballad more engaging by showing interactions between characters and adding depth to the narrative.
It helps bring your story to life.
5. Do ballads have to follow strict rules?
While traditional ballads have specific forms and structures, you can adapt these rules to fit your creative needs.
The key is to maintain the storytelling element and rhythm.
6. How can I make my ballad more memorable?
Use vivid descriptions, simple language, and a catchy refrain. Repetition and a strong narrative will help your ballad be memorable and engaging.
Don't forget to revise and polish your work for clarity and impact.
