How To Write a Ballad

Today we are going to tackle ballads. At one point in history, ballads were a court, town, or village’s favorite form of entertainment. A balladeer would travel from place to place, singing his (almost always “his”) songs of love, intrigue, murder, danger and tragedy. You could think of him as a really popular reporter, who put his stories to song. As time went on, these songs evolved into poetry.

As far as rules go, ballads are fairly easy.

1. Rhyme scheme
The ballad’s rhyme scheme is abab or abcb.

2. Structure
The ballad is usually (but of course, not always) arranged in four-line stanzas.

3. Content
The subject matter is usually based on recent events, supernatural happenings, love stories….think of todays tabloids….juicy tales of love, passion, death, hauntings, political intrigues, conspiracies…that sort of thing. I would like to note, however, that despite the “rules,” you should write what you feel like writing. If you want to write a ballad about the peanut butter sandwich you had for lunch, go right ahead! (I suppose that could be considered “recent events,” if you want to be a stickler for the rules) :D Also, “regular” speech (popular terms and lingo, which will vary, naturally) is generally used in this form (see the example by Brandon Marquis at the end of this post).

4. Meter
In general, for a ballad, the first and third lines are iambic tetrameter and the second and fourth lines are iambic trimester. (For a definition chart, see my book So You Have to Write a Poem, info below)

In other words, the first and third lines should have eight syllables following an unstressed/stressed pattern, and the second and fourth lines should have six syllables, also following an unstressed/stressed pattern.

And there you have it…the ballad. These can be quite fun – my brother recently wrote one for his high school English class about Michael Phelps and his current troubles. I hope he doesn’t mind me posting this, but it is an excellent example of a modern ballad.

The bad decisions that we make
Can follow us around.
Just ask the famous Michael Phelps
He’s always smoking down

He earned eight medals, solid gold,
He won them in a race.
But look at him, where is he now?
A terrible disgrace.

He was a hero for us all,
At least he used to be.
Now on Kellogs and the rest of them,
His face we’ll never see.

Though even fallen as he is,
I know he’ll pass the test,
And rise once more in victory
And beat all of the rest.

By Brandon Marquis

Well, this concludes poetry month. There are so many forms of poetry to explore, I’m sure a few will pop up every now and then. But for now, join me next Tuesday to learn how to write a research or term paper.

For more detailed examples and step-by-step instructions on how to write ballads and several other forms of poetry, check out my book, So You Have to Write a Poem!

How To Write Haiku Poems

For this week’s How To post, we will discuss how to write haiku poetry. Now, in it’s original Japanese form, the rules are a little more strict. When it comes to writing them in English, there really aren’t any set, conventional rules. But here are the basics:

1. Content – you can pretty much write them about whatever you want. Traditional haiku tend to be more nature-centered, but modern haiku (especially English) is full of political references, romance and every-day life centered issues, as well as the more traditional nature-based poems.

2. Structure – very simple….3 lines, alternating 5, 7, and 5 syllables.

There are more variations on this than I can count. Many modern English haiku writers have anywhere between 10 and 17 syllables in their haiku, alternating them in as many ways as you can imagine (6,6,4 – 5,5,7 – 3,6,3 – etc)….but IN GENERAL, 3 lines of 5, then 7, then 5 syllables.

3. The Cut – many (but of course, not all) haiku include a cut, or pause that divides the haiku and compares two images or expounds on the first image. In modern English haiku, this cut generally occurs at the end of the first or second line and is often indicated by a punctuation mark.

Example:

the morning paper
harbinger of good and ill
-- I step over it.
(Dave McCroskey)

Now, in this example, the punctuation comes at the beginning of the third line (no hard set rules, remember), but the cut is followed by a reaction to what happened in the first two lines. How does the morning paper, the “harbinger of good and ill” affect the poet? What does he do? He steps over it.

4. Seasonal theme or word – Traditionally, haiku include a season word, something that indicates in what season the haiku is set. For instance, if you are describing a summer meadow, you could mention a butterfly, or the sun, or blue skies. If the haiku is set in the winter, you could mention snow, or frost, or cold. It doesn’t have to be obvious…most modern haiku, if they include the season reference at all, are quite subtle.

And that’s it! You can now write haiku! Three lines of 5,7,5 syllables…maybe throw in a seasonal reference or cut, and you’ve got yourself haiku poetry.


What haiku can you write? Give it a try and leave them in the comment section! I’d love to see your work!!

Stay tuned next week for tips on how to write a ballad.

For step-by-step instructions on how to write haiku along with several other forms of poetry, check out my book, So You Have to Write a Poem!