Popular Ballads.pptVIP

Popular Ballads I. Popular Literature Most of the written literature in feudal England was intended only for the upper classes. The English people had a literature of their own, not written but oral, in the form of songs and ballads. English folk songs had existed long before the Norman Conquest. Ballad A folk song or orally transmitted poem telling in a direct and dramatic manner some popular story usually derived from a tragic incident in local history or legend. The story is told simply, impersonally, and often with vivid dialogue. Ballads are normally composed in quatrains with alternating four-stress and three-stress lines, the second and fourth line rhyming; but some ballads are in couplet form, and some others have six-line stanzas. Appearing in many parts of Europe in the late Middle Ages, ballads flourished particularly in Scotland from the 15th century onward. Since the 18th century, educated poets outside the folk-song tradition—notably Coleridge and Goethe—have written imitations of the popular ballad’s form and style: Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”(1798) is a celebrated example. Themes the struggle of young lovers against their feudal families the conflict between love and wealth the cruel effect of jealousy the border wars between England and Scotland matters of class struggle. Of special importance are the Robin Hood ballads. III. The Robin Hood Ballads a collection called “The Geste of Robin Hood” Robin Hood, a legendary popular hero, depicted in the ballads as a valiant outlaw skilled in archery living under the greenwood tree with his merry men taking from the rich and giving to the poor; waging war against bishops and archbishops constantly hunted by the sheriffs, whom he always outwits. i. The Origin of the Robin Hood Ballads Clearly the historical origin is to be found in the perpetual struggles of the peasants against the landlords, against the local officials and against the kings judges. Robin Hood is a partly