Do you find ballads or narrative verse more interesting? Using at least four poems, explain your reasons.
Do you find ballads or narrative verse more interesting? Using at least four poems, explain your reasons.
Ballads and Narrative verse are types of poems that are individual compositions usually in some kind of verse or metre. The word poem has originated from the Greek word meaning 'something created'.
Narrative verse is simply verse that tells a story. Before the success of the novel in the eighteenth century, verse was a more common way for story telling than prose. A narrative was a tale or recital of facts. It was likely to include a dramatic incident, descriptions of people or places, dialogue and a report of events as seen by the narrator. The narrator is essential in bringing together these characteristics. It is the narrator who makes us understand the story, from his or her point of view and allows us to consider the connection between the plot and events. Both first person and third person narrative are commonly used.
There are traditional or oral ballads, broadside ballads and literary ballads: some scholars feel that the term 'ballad' should be used only to refer to the traditional or oral folk ballads.
Oral ballads, though probably composed originally by a brilliant individual, have been transmitted from singer to singer for centuries, and in the process are remade by the singer or reciter at every performance. There are, therefore, many variant texts, and no single text of any ballad. Nevertheless folk ballads share many themes and techniques, though no single ballad will exhibit every typifying feature.
The subject matter of ballads is usually tragic and often violent. The story is told through dialogue and action, with sudden transitions from point to point in the narrative called 'leaping and lingering'. Abrupt beginnings, starting with a climatic episode, are common. Imagery is sparse and immediate. Stock epithets are used and refrains and repetition are common features also.
Broadside ballads lack the timeless quality of the folk ballads because they often deal with topical events; they were also printed rather than orally transmitted. Many of the traditional ballads were also published as broadsides.
With the exception of a famous commendation by Sidney in his An Apology for Poetry (1595), ballads were largely ignored till the eighteenth century. In 1711 two essays by Addison in The Spectator aroused interest. Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765) established the ballad's literary respectability. Poets started to be influenced by the form. Many nineteenth-century poets wrote literary or artificial ballads, imitating traditional ballad features. Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' from his and Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads (1798) are notable examples.
From the examples of the ballads chosen for this comparison essay, I found it was common in many to notice that the beginnings often were abrupt, with open endings. An abrupt beginning can be seen at the start of Unquiet Grave.
"'O where have you been, my dear, dear love
This long seven years and more?'"
We have no introduction or explanation but are left to gradually work out the story line throughout the rest of the ballad, intriguing us to continue. Demon Lover shows an open ending. This involves the listener to complete it ...
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From the examples of the ballads chosen for this comparison essay, I found it was common in many to notice that the beginnings often were abrupt, with open endings. An abrupt beginning can be seen at the start of Unquiet Grave.
"'O where have you been, my dear, dear love
This long seven years and more?'"
We have no introduction or explanation but are left to gradually work out the story line throughout the rest of the ballad, intriguing us to continue. Demon Lover shows an open ending. This involves the listener to complete it in their way.
"He struck the top-mast with his hand,
The fore-mast with his knee,
And he broke that gallant ship in twain
And sank her in the sea."
One of the characteristics of a ballad is its raw emotions of "real life" tragedies, creating a valid subject matter for the ballad to be based around. This can be seen in Unquiet Grave
"I'll do as much for my true love
As and lover may:
I'll sit and mourn all on his grave
A twelvemonth and a day"
The subject is not over exaggerated with excessive detail, but merely emphasises the emotions of this character. Ballads often focus on one episode, which the whole ballad revolves around. By not overcomplicating, it helps to keep the listener focussed on the subject. Events leading to a crisis are related swiftly.
"They have mounted sail on a Monday morn
With all the hastle they may,
And they have landed in Norraway
Upon the Wednesday"
This is taken from the ballad of Sir Patric Spens. By rapidly moving over that particular part using a 'leaping and lingering' technique of the tale we are drawn towards the main episode, and are not left with superfluous. This is supposed to keep us more interested, by not boring us with unnecessary detail. Keeping the ballads short, with regular verses of four lines also carries this out. As an example of this, "Bruton Town" being only nine verses in length, meaning that there is no excessive detail giving a greater impact.
Ballads are kept interesting by keeping the description vivid and basic. This can be seen in Unquiet Grave.
"Cold blows the wind on my true love,
And a few drops of rain:"
This shows how simple the descriptions in many ballads are. This means that it is the story or message being focussed on, but this could also lessen its appeal.
Also important to ballads is their use of epithets as shown in this quote from Clerk Colvill.
"He's mounted on his berry-brown steed"
An epithet being an adjective adding a special descriptive quality. Apart from this, description is rare in ballads. Refrains and repetition too are common features in ballads.
"They had not sailed a league, a league,
A league but barely three,"
This was taken from Sir Patric Spens. Refrains like these originate from when audiences listening to the ballads were expected to join in, as in a chorus.
With no description, the ballad could be become too plain, and lose the listeners interest. It is often the detailed description that sets the atmosphere and mood. Ballads often lack character development, giving us little or no knowledge of the characters. The ballad Barbara Allan shows this.
"It was about the Marhnmas time,
When thick leaves were falling,
That Sir John Graeme of West Country,
Sent work for Barbara Allan."
There is no further information about these characters, which leaves us with no past or present knowledge but their names. Often to be able to understand and relate more to the characters, we require more knowledge of them, and so without this, it is possible to lose interest from unbelievable characters. Adding to this, ballads scarcely give a place description. They contain minimal detail of surroundings.
"Good Lord Graeme is no Carlisle gane,
Sir Robert Bewick there met he,
And arm in arm to the wine they did go,
And they drank till they were both merie."
This quote is taken from Graeme and Bewick. This verse is the only description found in that ballad about the place setting, meaning that with little information, the ballad can become dull, and does not capture your imagination. Many believe that a reason for such little description is the ballad background. From being passed down orally, the ballads may often have been simplified to make them easily remembered. This also accounts for changed and missing parts of many ballads.
For this reason also, ballads will always follow a primitive verse pattern. Verses follow a four-line scheme, with a rhyming pattern usually of A B C B, with occasional verses of A B A B. Demon Lover shows this.
"'O were have you been, my dear, dear love A
This long seven years and more?' B
'O I've come to seek my former vows C
Ye granted me before.'" B
This is not always strictly kept to, but often it is more interesting if a poem has a more unusual structure, rather than rhythmic and droning.
It is also possible to find many different variations of the same ballad. For example in one particular written version of Bruton Town, it ends at the daughter, finding her lover. In other versions, the ballad continues to unfold a much longer story. It is hard to show an example of this as we only have one copy, showing only one version.
In the modern day, difficult language if not understood can be off putting and can lose interest. A quote from unquiet grave shows this.
"But plain a wand a bonny birk on your grave."
Many of the words from this line are generally not used in the modern day, some also being Scottish dialect, mean that they would mean nothing to many people and so much of the ballad perhaps would not be understood.
Language in a Narrative Verse can often be rather literary and scholarly. This can be seen in the Eve of St. Agnes by John Keats.
"Full of this whim was thoughtful Madeline
The music, yearning like a God in pain,
She scarcely heard her maiden devine,"
The English language used can occasionally be too formal and academic with proper sentences. This may also account partly for its length. Narrative verses are often relatively long. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for example is 625 lines long. This can be tedious to read, and the poem must be kept interesting if the reader is to finish, and read to the end.
Narrative verse can occasionally focus on an invalid subject matter, which may lose interest. This can be seen in The Keeping of the Bridge.
"Lars Porsena of Clusium
by the Nine Gods he swore
That the great house of Tarquin
should suffer no more"
This narrative verse is set in Italy, and so some of the ideas and information are foreign to our culture. Another view would be that this could also increase interest. If the subject matter is new to us, it may be able to capture our imagination, and explore these different ideas.
Occasionally, too much description can also become tiresome. This is an extract taken from Eve of St. Agnes.
"Of candies apples, Quince, and plum, and
gourds;
With jellies soother than the creamy curd,
And lucent syrups, tinct with cinnamon."
If a whole Narrative verse was written like this it could be suffocating, but in short bursts, I think this helps to make the poem even more interesting. It captures your imagination, and draws you into the poem. This is another example from the Eve of St Agnes.
"St. Agnes Eve - Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limped trembling through the frozen
grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold:"
From this detailed description we can sense the atmosphere being described to us and become more absorbed in the Narrative Verse. Symbolism is also used to create this sense. This can be seen in The Eve of St Agnes.
"Into her dream he melted, as a rose
Blendeth its odour with the violet,-"
This gives off a hidden meaning. The rose stands for passionate love (male) while the violet stands for modesty (female). As well as this, it is meaning that the rose is a beautiful flower but has a thorn, symbolising how love is wonderful but painful. This added piece of hidden mystery attaches a sense of secretiveness, compelling the reader to continue.
The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes also shows a more obvious type of imagery.
"The wind was a torrent of darkness among the
gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon
cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the
purple moor,"
Each line has one or two key words which without, the verse would be plain. With these words the symbolism of the weather and the light is created, so that we can clearly picture the scene, increasing our interest, and immediately grabbing our attention.
Language is an important part of keeping the narrative verse interesting. Onomatopoeia can be seen in The Highwayman
"Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the
Dark in-yard"
And repetition can be seen in The Ancient Mariner for example.
"Day after day, day after day,"
These both help to add a greater impact to the lines and words used. Syntax too less noticeably creates interest, by adding to many things mentioned. For example, colons and semicolons are used often.
"From all the vanguard rose:
And forth three chiefs come spurring
Before that deep array;"
This is taken from The Keeping of the Bridge. In this case, the colons build excitement, by prolonging the sentences, almost like telling the story hurriedly, pausing between each detail.
We also become involved and become interested by the intricate way in which the characters are introduced to us. This is shown in The Highwayman.
"But the landlords daughter
Bess the landlords daughter
Plaiting a dark red love knot into her long
black hair."
By using more description, the characters become increasingly realistic, relating us to the poem. We have more understanding and so become more interested in the outcome.
Narrative Verses will always revolve around a tale or story. They are set out in the same way, with a beginning, middle, and an end. This extract is taken from The Keeping of the Bridge.
"With weeping and with laughter,
still is the story told,
How well Horatius kept the bridge
in the brave days of old."
This is the last section of The Keeping of the Bridge, which is rounding off its story. Like many others, this narrative verse also had an introductory verse, before leading into its tale, and a rounded off ending. All incidences that occur will usually be arranged like in a book or a story. Another characteristic of the narrative verse is shown in this quote, where the narrator will often be personal, involving you in the purpose of the poem, and reinforcing the idea of it being a tale told to you personally.
In my opinion, narrative verse is more interesting than ballads from the very beginning due to the amount of detail and successful storytelling.