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The Ballad

8/22/2013

34 Comments

 
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A big thank you to Betsy at I Think in Poems for hosting Poetry Friday today!



I enjoy writing in forms and learning about forms and have written several ballads. The ballad is defined as:

“a form that comes in four-line verses, usually alternating between four and three beats to [the] line. The word comes from ballare, the Italian for “to dance’ (same root as ballet, ballerina and ball).  ~ Stephen Fry, “The Ode Less Travelled.” 

Another important aspect of the ballad is that it tells a story.

This one is about my naughty toy poodle, Lulu, may she rest in peace.

The Ballad of the Naughty Poodle
By B.J. Lee

I’ll tell you a story of a dog in her glory--
the naughty toy poodle named Lulu.
But first let me say, do not get in her way
or she may put one over on you too.

Although she’s petite and may strike you as sweet,
believe me, her mind’s always cooking
up schemes to sneak by and eat my potpie
the minute she sees I’m not looking.

I tell her to stay but she does not obey
and makes her way down floor by floor.
She shreds paper towels with claws like an owl’s. 
When spotted, she speeds out the door.

She’ll stretch and she’ll yawn but then once I am gone, 
Lulu tips over the trash.
On the floor I find mustard mixed in with the custard.
It’s clear she’s been having a bash!

She lands with a leap in the composting heap
no matter how loudly I yell.
I shout, “You're in trouble, come here on the double.”
I hold my nose
--wow--does she smell!

I give her a scrub in the claw-footed tub.
She splashes the suds in my face.
When I grab for a towel, she lets out a howl
and runs away like it’s a race.

Yes, this small, dirty dog redefines the word ‘hog.’
She’s always escaping my clutches.
And as hard as I try, the house is a sty
--
just some of the little swine’s touches.


 
© 2010 B.J. Lee All Rights Reserved
First published in “Umbrella Journal’s Bumbershoot Annual” August, 2010

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Here's the little stinker. She looks all innocent, but she is definitely thinking her Machiavellian thoughts and plotting her next dastardly scheme!


The ballad comes to us from song and folk traditions and many, many popular songs are ballads. Here is the first stanza from “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot:

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called “Gitche Gumme.”
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.



Read the rest of the poem here

© 1976 by Gordon Lightfoot




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photo courtesy of NOAA
Typically a ballad will rhyme either abab or abcb if it is in quatrains.  Gordon has chosen the latter and so have I.

Some books and websites define ballads as being typically written in iambic meter

daDUMdaDUMdaDUMdaDUM
daDUMdaDUMdaDUM


but Gordon broke that rule, giving us anapestic meter:

dadaDUMdadaDUMdadaDUMdaDUMda (with an extra syllable at the end— a feminine ending)

My poem, above, is also written in anapestic meter (with some feminine endings as well as internal rhyme).

I have also seen ballads arranged in sestets (6 lines to a stanza) . A good example  is ”The Walrus and the Carpenter” by Lewis Carrol (this one is iambic):

The Walrus and the Carpenter
were walking close at hand.
They wept like anything to see
such quantities of sand: 
“If this were only cleared away,”
they said, “it would be grand.” 



Read the rest of the poem here

And, I have seen ballads written with seven beats to the line, although arguably, each line could be broken down into two lines of four and then three beats.  Here is a stanza from Robert Service’s “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” (anapestic):

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon;
The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune;
Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
And watching his luck was his light-o'-love, the lady that's known as Lou. 



Read the rest of the poem here

No matter what decision you make regarding format and meter, ballads are a fun choice if you wish to tell a story in your poem! 

34 Comments
Tabatha
8/23/2013 12:31:13 am

How interesting that "ballad" comes from the same root word as "ballet" and "ball"! A ballad is a kind of dancing poem, isn't it? Your affection for Lulu comes through, even though she's naughty!

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B.J. Lee
8/23/2013 12:41:13 am

Hi Tabatha. Yes, it is interesting! I guess ballads do dance along, since they have a story to tell!

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Michelle Heidenrich Barnes link
8/23/2013 02:12:51 am

This is some seriously good, rollicking fun! Lulu sounds like quite the loveable handful... and such a cutie too! (It's no wonder she got away with that behavior.) Another great post this week, BJ :)

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B.J. Lee
8/23/2013 03:14:21 am

Thank you, Michelle! Yes, Lulu was certainly a handful, more like a spoonful - 4.5 lbs. yup, a lovin' spoonful!

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Penny Klostermann link
8/23/2013 04:01:52 am

What a great ballad B.J. I love humorous poems and this one fits the bill! She is a precious little thing!

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B.J. Lee
8/23/2013 04:24:51 am

Thank you, Penny! She was precious, to be sure, but she had a bit of a Machiavellian mind - always working the angles. Though she trotted off to that great poodle palace in the sky over ten yeas, ago, my husband and I still laugh over her antics.

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jama link
8/23/2013 05:27:28 am

Oh, that Lulu! Enjoyed reading your ballad :). Now you need to compose some music to go with it.

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B.J. Lee
8/23/2013 05:35:50 am

Thank you, Jama! Yeah, that Lulu is right! hmmm, music, you say?

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Buffy Silverman link
8/23/2013 08:45:14 am

Lulu looks innocent to me! I had fun singing your ballad to the tune of "The Edmund Fitzerald"--lots of fun (but now the winds of November are whipping through my brain!)

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B..J. Lee
8/23/2013 09:22:14 am

ah, yes, the winds of November come early! I hope you can get the song out of your head.

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Margaret Simon link
8/23/2013 09:53:31 am

Thanks for the ballad lesson. I have tried many forms but not this one. Looks daunting. We had a greyhound once named Lulu who we nicknamed Louise. She was a sweetie. I am laughing about your mischievous Lulu. Dog's personalities are as varied as humans. I also wanted to dance with the rhythm of your poem.

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B.J. Lee
8/23/2013 01:22:11 pm

Thanks for stopping by, Margaret! I've had four poodles, now, in my life and all of them are different. Don't be daunted! Read a bunch of ballads and you'll soon have the hang of it.

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Laura Shovan link
8/23/2013 10:23:30 am

Naughty poodles still retain their cuteness, somehow. Great topic for a ballad, BJ! Of course, I couldn't help but think of that runaway poodle of 1980s new-wave fame, Quiche Lorraine.

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B.J. Lee
8/23/2013 01:23:37 pm

Thanks for coming by, Laura! Yes, it's definitely hard to stay mad at a naughty poodle! LOL, Quiche Lorraine!

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Linda Baie link
8/23/2013 12:23:02 pm

Just fun to write about your Lulu, B.J. I love the Service poems and The Walrus and The Carpenter, have read them many times to my own children and my students. Thanks you for the explanation of the different types. I really just thought one could choose yet just keep the style the same. Oh so much to learn!

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B.J. Lee
8/23/2013 01:27:15 pm

thanks for stopping by, Linda! My explanation is by no means the whole ballad story - I just noticed a difference in the definition of a ballad poem being iambic, when I was finding a lot of anapestic ballads.Just remember 4/3, tell a story, and either i iambic or anapestic.

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Myra from GatheringBooks link
8/23/2013 04:32:52 pm

What a beautiful tribute to your gorgeously-naughty poodle. :) Love the poem. Love ballads too. :)

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B.J. Lee
8/24/2013 01:05:35 am

thanks so much, Myra!

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Malcolm Deeley
8/24/2013 01:17:28 am

Lulu was one in a million, that's for sure. She was sweet, intrepid and bold as well as exceedingly naughty at times! Her interpretation of "No", was clearly "Yes when no one is looking". You captured her impish nature beautifully.

And now I have "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" running nonstop in my head too!

I do love story-poetry, and ballads are such an exquisite form for that.

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B.J. Lee
8/24/2013 01:58:33 am

Thanks for stopping by! We'll never forget our little Lulu, will we?

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Mary Lee Hahn link
8/24/2013 01:18:27 am

Thanks for all of the info on ballads (and for the examples). That Lulu looks and sounds like quite a piece of work!

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B.J. Lee
8/24/2013 01:59:54 am

Thanks Mary Lee! She was quite a piece of work and I was privileged to know her.

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Liana link
8/24/2013 06:08:43 am

B.J., I enjoyed your naughty little poodle ballad very much! This form is perfect for pet poems. But it's your fun word choices that make this particular ballad so fitting for Lulu. Very nice! I've never tried writing a ballad before, but now it's on my to-write list. Thank you!

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B.J. Lee
8/24/2013 08:54:25 am

Thanks Liana! I'll be looking for your ballad!

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Keri link
8/24/2013 07:00:44 am

A fun lesson on ballads, with excellent examples. Pets bring us so much joy along with their messes. Thanks for sharing your memories of Lulu!

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B.J. Lee
8/24/2013 08:56:29 am

Thank you, Keri! Yes, Lulu's antics were always amusing and annoying at the same time!

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Becky Shillington link
8/24/2013 08:02:06 am

I LOVE your ballad, B.J.! It sounds like you perfectly captured your sweet puppy's personality in the piece, and created a loving tribute to her. Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

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B.J Lee
8/24/2013 08:57:24 am

Thank you, Becky! Thinking of Lulu always puts a smile on my face.

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Betsy Hubbard link
8/24/2013 10:13:21 am

This made me laugh out loud, you definitely need some music to go along with that. Poetry in song performance, I would dance to that!

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B.J. Lee
8/24/2013 12:09:25 pm

I'm glad you had a LOL moment, Betsy! I haven't written music since college. I might give it a go!

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Bridget Magee link
8/24/2013 01:53:08 pm

I love, love, love, little miss Lulu! She's like my naughty dog, Smidgey! All cuteness, but full mischief! Thank you for your poem and for your helpful explanation and demonstration of the ballad. =)

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B.J. Lee
8/24/2013 03:13:39 pm

Smidgey! What a cute name. I guess they can't help but be mischievous but they also can't help but be cute. I'm glad you enjoyed the poem!

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Renee LaTulippe link
8/24/2013 04:48:18 pm

So much fun, BJ! I love a good ballad, and one of my favorites is THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. These two stanzas are among the pathetically small amound of poetry I have memorized, along with JABBERWOCKY.

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
But not a drop to drink.

The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.

LOVE!

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B.J. Lee
8/25/2013 01:28:24 am

Hi Renee! I love the RIme of the Ancient Mariner as well and was, in fact, going to use it in this post! Good job with the memorization. I can quote the Jabberwocky too, and in fact, have set it to music with my childhood friend. LOL. But I can't memorize the Mariner. Thanks for stopping by!

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    B. J. Lee is a children’s author and poet. Her picture book, There Was an Old Gator Who Swallowed a Moth, is launching with Pelican Publishing on February 15, 2019. She has poems in 25 poetry anthologies published by  Little, Brown, Wordsong, BloomsburyUK, National Geographic, Otter-Barry Books, Pomelo Books, and Chicken Soup for the Soul. She has worked with anthologists Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis and Kenn Nesbitt. She has written poems for such children’s magazines as Spider, Highlights and The School Magazine. Follow her on Twitter @bjlee_writer.

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