poems you will find the names of the tunes. Sir Walter Scott, who was a great collector of the old folk ballads, named his collection The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, thus indicating the fact that the ballads were such as might have been sung by the ancient minstrels. In very early times, it is likely that the ballads were made in the presence of a group of people who joined immediately, in the very act of composition, in singing them. Perhaps, too, the singing was accompanied by rhythmic motion akin to the dance. But always the song is an essential. Our definition of the ballad is now complete. It is a short story in verse; it is told without any of the decorations of literary art, expressing the feeling or mood not of an author but of a group, so that it seems to tell itself; and it is designed to be sung, not read or recited. These ideas are best expressed in a definition that has become famous for its completeness: "A ballad is a tale telling itself in song." IV It remains to say something about the themes and the style of the ballads, and about the life that they reflect. Ballads have been made by all races and nations from the remotest antiquity. Since they represented the folk, ordinary people without the leisure or training to appreciate more carefully wrought poetry and prose, people who could neither read nor write, they were not written on paper or parchment but handed down orally from one generation to another. The epic poet might use stories that had long been known in ballad form, but he changed them, added reflections of his own, gave them poetic figures, and supplied material to fill in gaps in the narrative, so that the original ballad was transformed. It follows that only a few ballads have been preserved by any nation in proportion to the vast number that have been made. Indeed, educated men did not take much interest in this poetry of the common people until comparatively recent times. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, Bishop Percy made a collection of old ballads and ro mances that he called Reliques of English Poetry. About the same time, Robert Burns and other poets took advantage of the growing interest in old Scottish tunes by writing new lyrics, some of them ballads, to be sung to these tunes. A little later Sir Walter Scott published his great collection called the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. This growing interest in the ballads led to more careful study of them and to a search for others that had not yet been written down. This study brought forth many versions of some of the ballads, certain of these versions being found in America. In all cases the ballad is taken down orally by someone who is fortunate enough to hear it sung. Generally a folk ballad can now be found only in some remote region little affected by civilization and in which the present inhabitants can trace their descent to pure old English or Scottish stock. The themes of the ballads are varied. Some deal with the wars of the clans on the Scottish border and with other heroic matters, such as single combats between rival chiefs or the death of a hero. Many are romantic, telling of star-crossed lovers, or of a maid wooed by a lord in the disguise of a beggar, or the supplanting of a maiden by a rival. Some deal with the supernatural: a lover's ghost returns to claim the bride, or a mother is visited by the ghosts of her sons, or a fairy claims a mortal lover. A few are humorous, but not many; the outlook on life that we find in the ballads is usually tragic. They deal with elemental themes: love, death, friendship, deadly enmity. Even supernatural is treated in the same realistic manner. The ballad does not try to persuade you that there may be ghosts; it takes ghosts, fairies, supernatural creatures for granted. This is why, in the ballad about the wife of Usher's Well, you will find no attempt to make the flesh creep, to inspire terror of the unknown world, as in Shakespeare's account of Hamlet's father's ghost or in some of Poe's tales of the supernatural. You are not even told that these visitors are ghosts; it is taken for granted. From all this it will appear also that the ballad gives little analysis of character. We are not given details as to what the persons of the ballad are thinking about. The traits of character are simple: the man is brave, or a coward, or the sport of fate. The king is a king because he can sit in his tower and drink blood-red wine; the ladies are recognized as ladies because they have gold combs in their hair. Most of the ballads are intensely realistic. The richly described knights and ladies of the romances are not met here. Lovers do not woo in courtly language or sigh or write poetry, though they may die of a broken heart. The virtues are simple: faith, loyalty, courage, true friendship. Something has already been said about ballad-style: the absence of detail, of decoration, of any of the devices that we call literary. Since the ballad is to be sung to a simple tune, there are no complicated stanza-forms. Usually a fourline stanza in which the second and fourth lines rime, with four accents in the first and third lines and three in the second and fourth, is characteristic. Certain phrases are used over and over and become conventions of ballad style. These will be pointed out in the notes. The most striking characteristic of ballad style is what has been called "incremental repetition," by which is meant the repetition of a line with just a little addition or increment to the story. Good illustrations will be found in "Lord Randal." Apparently the lines say the same thing over and over, but you will notice that the variations, though slight, are sufficient to carry forward the story, so that at the end the entire situation is plain. Illustrations of the principal kinds of folk ballads are included in the pages you are now to read. The first four selections are of the simplest, most primitive, type. In these you will be able to find illustrations of the different characteristics of the folk ballad that have been pointed out. This group is followed by three ballads of the heroic type, and these in turn by two romantic ballads. Three ballads dealing with the supernatural, the world of the dead or of the fairies, are next given, and an excellent humorous ballad completes the group. In reading these ballads do not be alarmed by the seeming strangeness of the language. It is the language of the people, not a literary language. Difficult. words are explained in the notes, but many words seem strange merely because of the spelling. If you will read the stanza aloud, the sound of the word will often give you the meaning. Only by reading aloud do you get the spirit of the ballad: its vigor, its simplicity, its rapidity of movement. And if you should be so fortunate as to be able to hear some of these old songs of the people sung to their ancient music, you will learn more about the ballad spirit than through any amount of study. Since the great revival of interest in the ballads began, many writers have tried to imitate this form of poetry. You will find, beginning on page 259, a group of selections from these literary ballads. It will be interesting for you to point out the various likenesses and differences between these modern imitations of the ballad and the songs of the unlettered folks of long ago. naturally to the next following question? (c) How much of each stanza is repetition or refrain? (d) If someone suggested the question, could you make the rest of the stanza, or sing it if you knew the tune, without paying further attention to the composition? (e) Does the refrain in the fourth line of each stanza ever vary? If so, why, and what effect is gained? Is the refrain merely a set of repeated words, or does it help the story in any way? 2. The "legacy" is a convention, or commonplace, in many ballads. What change in the structure of the stanzas marks the introduction of this convention here? What persons are named? Of these, only one is important. Which one, and why? What, then, is the "increment," or addition to the story, that this set of repetitions contributes? 3. Reconstruct the story of the ballad, including both what you are told in the poem and what you know must have happened. How do you know that these things, not definitely mentioned, must have happened? Underline the parts of the story that are thus taken for granted, not definitely stated. About what proportion of the whole story is told in this indirect way? 4. In what way does this ballad resemble a short story? How does it differ? THE TWA SISTERS There was twa sisters in a bowr, Edinburgh, Edinburgh, There was twa sisters in a bowr, Stirling for ay, 5 There was twa sisters in a bowr, The eldest she was vexéd sair, Into her bowr she could not rest; 15 1. Study the repetition and refrain. Which lines in the complete stanza carry on the story? Which lines are purely refrain, with no relation to the story? Which line in each stanza is repeated three times? What is the effect? What use of repetition, binding stanzas together, do you discover in the lines which carry the story from stanza to stanza? 2. Write out, or be prepared to tell to the class, the story of the ballad. What facts in this story are not given directly but are left to be supplied by the reader or hearer? What descriptive elements, such as the description of the heroine, are repeated? Are there any conventional expressions for describing her hands, her jewels, etc.? 3. Note that the song of the harper is a variant of the "legacy" theme met in "Lord Randal." Why does the harp play this tune? "What's thy brother's name? come tell to me." "My brother's name is Baby Lon." "O sister, sister, what have I done! O have I done this ill to thee! "O since I'ce done this evil deed, Good sall never be seen o me." He's taken out his wee pen-knife, 35 And he's twyned himsel o his ain sweet life. 13. may, maid. 30. gin, if. 38. twyned, deprived. NOTES AND QUESTIONS 1. Note that the second and fourth lines, constituting the refrain, are printed only in the first stanza. If you were to sing the ballad, of course you would include this refrain in each stanza. How does it differ from the refrain in "Lord Randal"? Does it add to the story, |