Ballade 299075 224758686 2008-07-10T08:29:35Z Paul A 7104 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/80.80.161.138|80.80.161.138]] ([[User talk:80.80.161.138|talk]]) to last version by 86.4.200.143 {{Otheruses4|the poetry form|other types of ballades and ballads|Ballade (disambiguation)}} The '''ballade''' ({{pronEng|bəˈlɑːd}}; not to be confused with the [[ballad]]) is a [[Verse (poetry)|verse]] form typically consisting of three eight-line [[stanza]]s, each with a consistent metre and a particular [[rhyme scheme]]. The last line in the stanza is a refrain, and the stanzas are followed by a four-line concluding stanza (an ''[[envoi]]'') usually addressed to a [[prince]]. The [[rhyme scheme]] is therefore usually 'ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC bcbC', where the capital 'C' is a refrain. The ballade is particularly associated with [[France|French]] poetry of the [[14th century|14th]] and [[15th century|15th centuries]]. One of the most notable writers of ballades was [[François Villon]]. In [[Rostand|Edmund Rostand's]] [[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)]], it is a ballade that Cyrano composes impromptu during a [[duel]]. The many different rhyming words that are needed (the 'b' rhyme needs at least fourteen words) makes the form more difficult for English poets than for French. [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] wrote in the form. It was revived in the 19th century by English-language poets including [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]] and [[Algernon Charles Swinburne]]. Other notable English-language ballade writers are [[Andrew Lang]] and [[G. K. Chesterton]] (below). A humorous example is [[Wendy Cope]]'s 'Proverbial Ballade'. == A Ballade of Theatricals by [[G. K. Chesterton]] (1912)== :Though all the critics' canons grow— :Far seedier than the actors' own— :Although the cottage-door's too low— :Although the fairy's twenty stone— :Although, just like the telephone, :She comes by wire and not by wings, :Though all the mechanism's known— :Believe me, there are real things. :Yes, real people— even so— :Even in a theatre, truth is known, :Though the agnostic will not know, :And though the gnostic will not own, :There is a thing called skin and bone, :And many a man that struts and sings :Has been as stony-broke as stone… :Believe me, there are real things :There is an hour when all men go; :An hour when man is all alone. :When idle minstrels in a row :Went down with all the bugles blown— :When brass and hymn and drum went down, :Down in death's throat with thunderings— :Ah, though the unreal things have grown, :Believe me, there are real things. :Prince, though your hair is not your own :And half your face held on by strings, :And if you sat, you'd smash your throne— :Believe me, there are real things. ==Variations== There are many variations to the ballade, and it is in many ways similar to the [[ode]] and [[chant royal]]. There are instances of a double ballade and double-refrain ballade. Some ballades have five stanzas; a ballade supreme has ten-line stanzas rhyming ababbccdcD, with the envoi ccdcD or ccdccD. An example is ''Ballade des Pendus'' by [[François Villon]]. A seven-line ballade, or ballade royal, consists of four stanzas of [[rhyme royal]], all using the same three rhymes, all ending in a refrain, without an envoi. ==External links== * [http://www.fullbooks.com/Ballads-in-Blue-China-and-Verses-and.html 'Ballads in Blue China and Verses and Translations'] by Andrew Lang from [http://www.fullbooks.com Fullbooks.Com] [[Category:Poetic form]] [[Category:Folk music]] [[Category:Musical forms]] [[Category:Medieval music]] [[Category:Renaissance music]] [[Category:French poetry]] [[cs:Balada (hudba)]] [[ka:ბალადა]] [[ja:バラード]] [[pl:Ballada (muzyka)]] [[simple:Ballade]] [[yi:באלאדע]]