POETRY: BALLADS
1. Read the elements of ballad, below.
2. Break into your four assigned groups.
3. Once in groups, silently read the medieval
ballad (in your textbook) and modern ballad
(on this handout) assigned to your group only
4. Discuss the two ballads in general with your
group members - make sure to come to a
complete understanding of what occurs in
each ballad
5. Discuss: Why were these two ballads paired
together? What do they have in common even
though they are many centuries apart?
6. Use the spaces next to each element of a
ballad (below) to check off what your two
ballads have and don’t have. Designate the
first spot on the left for the medieval ballad
and the second spot on the right for the
modern ballad.
7. Independently write a paragraph response in
your notebook: Compare and contrast the two
ballads you just read, paying careful attention
to their similarities and differences, the
elements of a ballad they do and do not
contain, and how they create a particular effect
on the reader/listener.
Elements of a ballad
 Plot
___ /___A single episode of highly dramatic nature
___ /___Possible supernatural elements
___ /___Incidents would happen to a common
person
___ /___Physical courage and love are frequent
themes
 Structure
Repetition
___ /___ABAB or ABCB rhyme
 Narration
___ /___Slight attention is paid to characterization
with a detached narration
 Dialogue
___ /___Action developed through dialogue with
little attention paid to who’s speaking
 Language
___ /___Tragic situations and sudden disasters are
presented with utmost simplicity using simple
language
Group 1 Medieval Ballad: “The Two Corbies” p. 194
Group 1 Modern Ballad: “Ballad of Birmingham”
(1964) by Dudley Randall
"Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"
"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."
"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."
"No baby, no, you may not go
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."
She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.
The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.
For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.
She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"
___________________________________________
Group 2 Medieval Ballad: “Lord Randall” p. 195
Group 2 Modern Ballad: “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna
Fall” (1962) by Bob Dylan
Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways
I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a
graveyard
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all
broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young
children
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole
world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were ablazin’
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
Who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded with hatred
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’
I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all
empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty
prison
Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
___________________________________________
Group 3 Medieval Ballad: “Get Up and Bar the Door”
p. 196
Group 3 Modern Ballad : “Hey Joe” (1962) by Billy
Roberts [As recorded by Jimi Hendrix]
Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand
Hey Joe, I said where ya goin' with that gun in your
hand
I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady now
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another
man
I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another
man
Huh, and that ain't too cool
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down
You shot her down down
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your lady down
You shot her down to the ground
Yes, I did, I shot her
You know I caught her messin' 'round, messin' 'round
town
Yes, I did, I shot her
You know I caught my old lady messin' 'round the town
And I gave her the gun, I shot her
Hey Joe, where you gonna run to now
Where you gonna run to
Hey Joe, I said, where you gonna run to now
Where you, where you gonna go
Well dig it
I'm goin' way down south
Way down Mexico way, alright
I'm goin' way down south
Way down where I can be free
Ain't no one gonna find me
Ain't no hangman gonna find me
He ain't gonna put a rope around me
You better believe it right now
Hey Joe, you better run on down
Goodbye, everybody
___________________________________________
Group 4 Medieval Ballad: “Barbara Allan” p. 199
Group 4 Modern Ballad : “Speechless” (2009) by Lady
Gaga
I can't believe what you said to me
Last night when we were alone
You threw your hands up
Baby you gave up, you gave up
I can't believe how you looked at me
With your James Dean glossy eyes
In your tight jeans with your long hair
And your cigarette stained lies
I'll never talk again
Oh boy you've left me speechless
You've left me speechless so speechless
I'll never love again,
Oh friend you've left me speechless
You've left me speechless, so speechless
And after all the drinks and bars that we've been to
Would you give it all up?
Could I give it all up for you?
And after all the boys and girls that we've been through
Would you give it all up?
Could you give it all up?
If I promise boy to you
That I'll never talk again
And I'll never love again
I'll never write a song
Won't even sing along
I'll never love again
So speechless
You left me speechless, so speechless
Why you so speechless, so speechless?
Could we fix you if you broke?
And is your punch line just a joke?
Will you ever talk again?
Oh boy, why you so speechless?
You've left me speechless so speechless
I'll never talk again
Oh boy you've left me speechless
You've left me speechless, so speechless
Some men may follow me
But you choose "death and company"
Why you so speechless? Oh oh oh
And I'll never love again,
Oh boy you've left me speechless
You've left me speechless, so speechless
I can't believe how you slurred at me
With your half wired broken jaw
You popped my heart seams
On my bubble dreams, bubble dreams
I can't believe how you looked at me
With your Johnnie Walker eyes
He's gonna get you and after he's through
There's gonna be no love left to rye
And I know that it's complicated
But I'm a loser in love
So baby raise a glass to mend
All the broken hearts
Of all my wrecked up friends