Ballads were originally written to accompany dances, and so were authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten in couplets with refrains in alternate lines. These refrains would have been sung authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten the dancers in time with the dance. Most northern and west European ballads are authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten in ballad stanzas or quatrains (four-line stanzas). Usually, only the second and fourth line of a quatrain are authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten (in the scheme a, b, c, b), which has been taken to suggest that, originally, ballads consisted authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten couplets (two lines) of rhymed verse, each of 14 syllables.
There is authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten variation on this pattern in almost every respect, including length, number of lines and authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten scheme, making the strict definition of a ballad extremely difficult. Ballads usually use the authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten dialect of the people and are heavily influenced by the region in which they authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten. Scottish ballads in particular are distinctively un-English, even showing some pre-Christian influences in the authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten of supernatural elements such as fairies. Medieval ballads do not have any known authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten or correct version; instead, having been passed down mainly by authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten tradition since the Middle Ages, there are many variations of each. They remained an oral tradition until the increased authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten in folk songs in the 18th century led collectors such as Bishop Thomas Percy to authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten volumes of popular ballads.
In all traditions most ballads are authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten in nature, with a self-contained story, often concise, and rely authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten imagery, rather than description, which can be tragic, historical, romantic or comic. Themes authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten rural laborers and their sexuality are common, and there are many ballads based on the Robin Hood legend. Another common authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten of ballads is repetition, sometimes of fourth lines in succeeding stanzas, as a authorbycommoncomposedconcerningconsiderablefeatureinclusioninterestnarrativeofonoraloriginatepublishrefrainrhymedrhymingwritten, sometimes of third and fourth lines of a stanza and sometimes of entire stanzas.
(adapted from Wikipedia)