BALLAD AND BALLAD STANZA

The ballad is a rhymed form adapted for singing or recitation. Thrall & Hibbard 's Handbook to Literature speaks of the ballad as a simple narrative of a dramatic and exciting episode. Hence, the poem should tell a story in a series of quatrains. 

The ballad stanza, specific to the form, is a 4-line stanza containing 8 syllables (4 poetic feet) in lines 1 and 3; 6 syllables (3 poetic feet) in lines 2 and 4.  This often used 4/3--4/3 meter is sometimes called "rocking horse" rhythm. The meter is usually iambic (u/).  The rhyme scheme is a-b-c-b.

Here's an example of a typical ballad stanza:   

There lived a wife at Usher's Well,
and a wealthy wife was she;
she had three stout and stalwart sons,
and sent them o'er the sea. 

Florence Bruce, the blogger
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