Ballad
['bæləd]
Definition
(noun.) a narrative poem of popular origin.
(noun.) a narrative song with a recurrent refrain.
Typed by Hector--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A popular kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; as, the ballad of Chevy Chase; esp., a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas.
(v. i.) To make or sing ballads.
(v. t.) To make mention of in ballads.
Checked by John
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Light poem, sentimental song.
Typed by Carlyle
Definition
n. a simple spirited narrative poem in short stanzas of two or four lines in which a story is told in straightforward verse often with great elaborateness and detail in incident but always with graphic simplicity and force—a sort of minor epic: a simple song usually of a romantic or sentimental nature in two or more verses each sung to the same melody as in the so-called Ballad Concerts: any popular song often scurrilous.—ns. Bal′ladist a writer or singer of ballads; Bal′lad-monger a dealer in ballads.
Checked by Godiva
Examples
- As if it were Cock Robin, the hero of the ballad, and Mr Venus were the sparrow with his bow and arrow, and Mr Wegg were the fly with his little eye. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Shirley resumed her ballad minstrelsy. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I will assay, then, said the knight, a ballad composed by a Saxon glee-man, whom I knew in Holy Land. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- It is cracked; I hear her trying out of her window a schrecklich English ballad, called 'De Rose upon de Balgony. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- She passed into another ballad, this time a really doleful one. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- And what catchpenny ballad writer could not write a parody on them as you have done? Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Now I am the first man in the state, burthen of every ballad, and object of old women's mumbled devotions. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- But, like Jenny in the ballad. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- They were wretched stuff, in street-ballad style; and when they were printed, my brother sent me about the town to sell them. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Walk in, brother,' said Silas, clapping him on the shoulder, 'and take your seat in my chimley corner; for what says the ballad? Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Who has read the ballad of Puir Mary Lee--that old Scotch ballad, written I know not in what generation nor by what hand? Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I had a very choice collection of ballads, and there was a new stock of gingerbread in the tin box. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- In merry England there is no end of popular ballads on this theme. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Recollections of happy trysts of lovers, commemorated in old ballads, returned on her mind; she thought such tryst in such scene would be blissful. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Snatches of sweet ballads haunted her ear; now and then she sang a stanza. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Was it outside that very house as I first set eyes upon him, rolling in the lap of luxury, when I was selling halfpenny ballads there for a living? Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- He wrote poetry--sonnets, stanzas, ballads. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- And then to be shut in on each side, with these ballads, like so many book-leaf blinkers! Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
Edited by Cathryn