The Ballad is derived from the late Latin word “ ballare” which means to dance. A ballad is a narrative poem , usually simple and fairly short and originally was a musical accompaniment to a dance. Ballads often begin abruptly and narrate a story of love , heroism , sacrifice or bedevilment. The language is simple and the story proceeds without any let up through short spirited stanzas.

The metre is iambic tetrameter and the rhyme scheme abab or abcb


CHARACTERISTICS OF BALLAD :
1. The beginning is rather abrupt
2. The language is simple
3. The story is told through action and dialogue
4. The theme is often tragic.
5. There is often a refrain , i.e. a phrase or line or lines repeated at intervals during a poem , especially at the end of a stanza.
6. It usually deals with a single episode.
EXAMPLE OF A BALLAD

La Belle dame Sans Merci       - John Keats