Speech modification

Some common characteristic features of the ballad as a form of poetry should be noted to enable you identify, describe, and critique when required, as follows:

1. Impersonality and lack of sentimentality;

2. Anonymity of authorship and consequent lack of authorial comments;

3. Simple repetition;

4. Incremental repetition meant to slow down action and thus add to suspense and emphasise the points in a dialogue;

5. Focus on a single episode;

6. Use of dialogue to make action of story dramatic and compress and remove unnecessary descriptions and points;

7. Absence or minimal utilisation of figures of speech;

8. Use of refrains, which aids musicality in the poem as well as perform the functions of repetition noted above (in #4);

9. Stereotype or stock epithets and concrete diction;

10. Quatrain stanzas.

As a general rule, the ballad uses a common measure of a four-line stanza rhyming abab, abcb, or xaxa. You should note that in this rhyming pattern, the first and third lines could rhyme (represented as ‗a‘ in abab), while the second and fourth lines (represented as ‗b‘) must rhyme. In some ballads, however, the first and third lines may not rhyme (as in

abcb and xaxa, where ‗x‘ represents ‗no rhyme‘ and this deviation does not disqualify such lines as ballad stanzas.

The following are notable examples of the folk ballad and the art ballad which you should read in any good anthology of English poetry:

Folk/Popular/Traditional Ballad – ‗Sir Patrick Spens‘, ‗The Wife at Usher‘s Well‘,

‗The Daemon Lover‘, ‗Edward‘, ‗The Three Ravens‘, ‗Lord Randal‘ and ‗The Twa Corbies‘.

Extracts:

(1) Edward

―Why does your brand sae drop wi‘ blude, Edward, Edward?

Why does your brand sae drop wi‘ blude, And why sae sad gang ye, O?‖ -

―O I hae kill‘d my hawk sae gude, Mither, Mither;

O I hae kill‘d my hawk sae gude, And I had nae mair but he, O‖.

(Reeves 4-6)

(2) Sir Patrick Spens

The king sits in Dunfermline town Drinking the blude-red wine,

―O whare will I get a skeely skipper To sail this new ship o‘ mine?‖

O up and spak an eldern knight, Sat at the king‘s right knee;

―Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor That ever sailed the sea.‖

(Reeves 7-10)

Art/Literary Ballad – Scott‘s ‗Proud Maisie‘, John Keats‘s ‗La Belle Dame sans Merci‘, Samuel T. Coleridge‘s ‗The Rime of the Ancient Mariner‘, Robert Burns‘s ‗A Red, Red Rose‘ and ‗Anna‘, Gerard M Hopkins‘s ‗Felix Randal‘.

(1) A Red, Red Rose

O my love is like a red, red rose That‘s newly sprung in June:

O my love is like the melody, That‘s sweetly played in tune.

As fair thou art, my bonnie lass, So deep in love am I;

And I will love thee still, my dear, Till a‘ the seas gang dry.

(Reeves 60) (2) Belle Dame sans Merci

―What can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake, And no birds sing.

―O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, So haggard and so woe-begone?

The squirrel‘s granary is full, And the harvest‘s done

(Reeves 212-214 ) Self-Assessment Exercise

List and discuss the similarities and differences between the epic and the ballad as types of poetry.

4.0 CONCLUSION

We have looked at two specific types of poetry in this Unit: the Epic and the Ballad, and we have also studied the different features and characteristics that make up each, with particular examples given to enhance our understanding.

5.0 SUMMARY

While the epic is grand and long, the ballad is short and ordinary, a familiar poem to the average person. Each type of poem comes with its own strength and beauty.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Using the extracts above as examples, examine the main features of the popular and art ballads as poetic sub-categories.

2. Identify and explain the different forms of impersonal poetry?

3. Choose two types of poetry classified under the impersonal forms and discuss their major characteristics.

4. The ballad has two major types. Using the poems, ‗Edward‘, ‗A Red, Red Rose‘ and any other ballad studied in class, explain the distinguishing features of two of these types.

5. In terms of issues discussed and style, are there similarities between epic and ballad as types of poetry?

6. In your own view, what are the properties that qualify epic as a main poetic type?

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Holman, Hugh, ed. (1972). A Handbook of Literature. Indianapolis:

Bobbs-Merrill.

Reeves, James, ed. (1972). The Poet’s World: An Anthology of English Poetry.

London: Heinemann.

UNIT 5: MAJOR TYPES OF POETRY – PERSONAL OR ROMANTIC FORMS

CONTENT 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Objectives 3.0 Main Content

3.1 Ode 3.2 Elegy

3.3 Sonnet 3.4 Lyric 4.0 Conclusion 5.0 Summary

6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment 7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit will equip you with a detailed study of the major forms or types of poetry, with special emphasis on their distinguishing features. It is necessary that know the type of poem that you are dealing with at any point in time.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Recognise and explain the different forms of poetry;

2. Describe in detail each type of poetry;

3. Distinguish between the different forms of poetry on the basis of their individual characteristics;

4. Determine and rationalise in a professional manner the type of poem you

may have to appreciate.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT