Directory of Ballade Resources

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A form (not to be confused with the ballad) that originated in France in the 14th and 15th centuries, usually consisting of three eight-line stanzas followed by a four-line envoi. The last line of each stanza and the envoi is a refrain. The rhyme scheme is ababbcbC repeated three times, and then bcbC, with the capital letter being the refrain.

Resources in This Category

• A Ballade of Suicide

  http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/8589/
  A humorous example of the form by G.K. Chesterton.

• Ballade of the Hanged

  http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.com/2000/09/ballade-of-hanged-villon-epitaph.html
  Francois Villon's epitaph in both English and French, with a description of the form and a short biography of the poet.

• Examples of Ballade Poetry

  http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/ballade
  A large number provided by members of poetrysoup.com.

• Francois Villon: Ballades

  http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/villon1.asp
  Two by the early master of the form, one translated by Rossetti and one by Swinburne.

• Poetry Form - The Ballade

  http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/ballade.htm
  A description of the form with instructions on how to write one.

 

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