For this essay I have chosen to analyse 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and 'The Eve of St. Agnes'. Theses are both ballads we have studied in class and both could be described as good examples of ballads.

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'Critically analyse the two ballads studied and compare the way the poets use the features of romantic narrative verse.'

For this essay I have chosen to analyse 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and 'The Eve of St. Agnes'. Theses are both ballads we have studied in class and both could be described as good examples of ballads.

Ballads usually tell a story. They do so in a dramatic way, using simple and direct language to set the scene. Ballads also have many features, these include; an action packed plot, a regular rhyme scheme, dialogue, repetition and usually end with a moral. If a writer uses these features he is on his way to creating a perfect ballad. Each of the ballads we studied were good examples of good ballads and how ballads should be. They both incorporated the features' ballads should have.
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The Eve of St. Agnes and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner could be described as romantic ballads. Romanticism was a movement at the end of the eighteenth century where artists and writers used their work to express their views. These writers felt strongly that nature should be glorified and this was primary a reaction against industrialisation.

They were nostalgic in out look believing the past to have been better than the present. The main characteristics of a romantic narrative verse are Magic, religion, the theme of love and superstition. In Eve of St. Agnes you ...

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