Ballad

A ballad is a story in a song, usually a narrative song or poem. It is a rhythmic saga of a past affair, which may be heroic, romantic or satirical, political (affected by the previous three types mentioned, refers to either glorifying the exploits or causes of a particular leader or group, and is typical of totalitarian political systems), almost inevitably catastrophic, which is related in the third person, usually with foreshortened alternating four- and three-stress lines ('ballad meter') and simple repeating rhymes, and often with a refrain.

External Resources

• The Bodleian Library Ballad Collection: view facsimiles of printed ballads
• The Traditional Ballad Index
• Murder Ballads
• English and some German ballads
• Folk Music, Child Ballads, Popular Songs In American History, Sea Shanties etc.