The Ballad

For the year of 2025, “Poetic Discussions” we will be exploring, learning, and composing various short forms of poetry.  These will be a set of activities that you are more than welcome to participate in.  Information on these forms of poetry will be provided, along with instructions on the poem activity.  Please be sure to read the instructions carefully and abide by them.  Also, feel free to research more information on the presented short form should you need more clarification.  Those who participate poems will be posted here at the Creative Inspirations website.
 
Please note that when submitting for this activity:

• poems will only be accepted by email at: [email protected].  Please put in the subject line of the email: “Poetic Discussions Poetry Activity Submission”
• poems must follow submission instructions
• poems should not be offensive, derogatory, vulgar, sexual, or the like
• poems must be submitted on or before the deadline; no poems will be accepted once the deadline has expired

 
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For the next short form activity, we will tackle the Ballad.  Below is some information about this form of poetry.
 
A ballad poem is a narrative poem, often set to music, that tells a story in short stanzas, typically with four lines. These stories often focus on romantic, comedic, heroic, or tragic events. Ballads often have a strong rhythm and rhyme scheme, frequently in the ABAB pattern, and may include a refrain or repeated chorus. 
 
Key Characteristics of a Ballad Poem:

• Narrative: Ballads tell a story, often about adventure, love, or heroism. 
• Stanzas: They typically consist of four-line stanzas (quatrains). 
• Rhyme Scheme: The rhyme scheme often follows the ABAB pattern, where the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme. 
• Rhythm: Ballads have a strong, often bouncy, rhythm that lends itself to being sung. 
• Refrain: Some ballads include a refrain or repeated chorus, similar to a song. 
• Oral Tradition: Many traditional ballads were passed down orally, often by minstrels or traveling performers. 

 
https://www.google.com/search?q=information+on+the+ballad+poem&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1123US1125&oq=information+on+the+ballad+poem&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRifBTIHCAMQIRifBTIHCAQQIRifBTIHCAUQIRifBTIHCAYQIRifBTIHCAcQIRifBTIHCAgQIRifBTIHCAkQIRifBdIBCjEwNDk5ajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBZJqEk-Jyv5v&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on
 
 
The ABAB rhyme scheme, also known as an alternating rhyme scheme, is a poetic structure where the first and third lines of a stanza rhyme with each other, and the second and fourth lines rhyme with each other. For example, the first and third lines of a stanza might rhyme, while the second and fourth lines also rhyme, creating a pattern of A-B-A-B. 
 
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+the+abab+rhyme+scheme&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1123US1125&oq=what+is+the+abab+r&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyBggCEEUYOTIICAMQABgWGB4yCAgEEAAYFhgeMggIBRAAGBYYHjIICAYQABgWGB4yCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB6oAgiwAgHxBWy7QyILun1G&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on
 
 
The ABCB rhyme scheme – An ABCB rhyme scheme is a four-line stanza in which the second and fourth lines rhyme, while the first and third lines do not rhyme with each other or with the other lines.
 
https://poemanalysis.com/rhymescheme/abcb/#:~:text=An%20ABCB%20rhyme%20scheme%20is,or%20with%20the%20other%20lines.
 
 
An AABB rhyme scheme refers to a set of four lines in which the first two lines end with words that rhyme with one another, followed by lines three and four which also end with words that rhyme with one another.
 
https://poemanalysis.com/rhymescheme/aabb/#:~:text=An%20AABB%20rhyme%20scheme%20refers,that%20rhyme%20with%20one%20another.
 
 
Examples of Ballad Poems:  
 
 
To The One Who Teaches Me – (ABAB rhyme style)

To one who teaches me
The sweetness and the beauty
Of doing faithfully
And cheerfully my duty.
 
© Louisa May Alcott
 
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Dreams – (ABCB style)
 
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
 
© Langston Hughes
 
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Nothing Gold Can Stay – (AABB style)
 
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.
 
© Robert Frost
 
 
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Whew, for this activity, I had quite a time researching the various rhyme schemes for the poem.  As listed above, of the many rhyme schemes for a ballad poem, I have shared 3.  For this activity, please refer to the instructions below.  Poems that do not follow the guidelines below will not be accepted.

• the challenge, of course, is to create 1 Ballad poem using just 1 of the rhyme schemes (ABAB, ABCB, or AABB)
• as far as lines go, we will use the 8-line form, meaning your poem has to be a total of 8 lines, no more and no less
• for a subject or theme of the poem, please use 1 of the following: romantic, comedic, heroic, or a subject or a theme of your own – romantic ballads, especially ones written in earlier centuries, relayed a lot of adult-based, mature content – for this publication, if you choose to write a romantic ballad, please keep it reader-friendly; that applies to any poetry submission
• a title will be required for this poem
• poem must be individual; no collaboration poems
• poem must be original…no previously published poems for this activity
• the deadline for submission of this poem is: Wednesday May 21, 2025
• poems for this activity will be published on this site next month (June)
• please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Let’s get lots of submissions