BALLADSBALLADSGoh Qin KaiGoh Qin KaiNurul AtiqahNurul AtiqahAnis WardahAnis Wardah

Nur HawaNur HawaKeffeny AnnKeffeny Ann

DefinitionDefinitionA 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

Slight attention is paid to characterization or description

Tragic situations are presented with the utmost simplicity

Incremental repetition is commonA 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

General characteristics of ballad

Structure

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).

Ballad stanza

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;bright;

He ate and drank with a kingly zest

And peacefully snored at night.night.

Look closely at the rhyme of the above verse.

Only the second and fourth lines rhyme.

A

B

C

B

Rhyme

A

B

C

B

But he said he was sick and a king should

know

And doctors came by the scorescore;

They could not cure him so he cut off their

heads

And sent to the schools for moremore.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.

4

3

4

3

The King was sick. His cheek was red

And his eye was clear and bright;

He ate and drank with a kingly zest

And peacefully snored at night.

= stress of words

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 loveDomestic conflictsWarsShipwrecksSensational crimesExploits of outlaws

Later ballads often

included:Historical events

Romantic heroesThese ballads were written

toward end of the Middle Ages

when English was accepted as

a language of literary merit.

BALLAD OF BIRMINGHAM

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 daughter’s 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.

StructureThe 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 aInstead of out to play, bAnd march the streets of Birmingham cIn a Freedom March today?” b

“No, baby, no, you may not go, 8For the dogs are fierce and wild, 7And clubs and hoses, guns and jails 8Aren’t good for a little child.” 7

four lines

rhyming ABCB

where the

second and

fourth lines

rhyme and are

shorter than

the first and

third lines

Rhythm and RhymeShe 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 childWas in the sacred place,But that smile was the last smileTo 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 usedThere 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…”. This sets up the focus on the irony of the situation: Mother

sends her child to church in order to protect her but reality struck her hard for being at church leads to her death.

ThemesMother-daughter lovePatriotismInnocence

Mother-Daughter LoveThe 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.

PatriotismInstead 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 downtownInstead of out to play,And march the streets of BirminghamIn a Freedom March today?”

“But, mother, I won’t be alone.Other children will go with me,And march the streets of BirminghamTo make our country free.”

TrustThe 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