A ballad is a type of poem that is sometimes set to music.

Ballads have a long history and are found

in many cultures. The ballad actually began as a folk song and continues today in popular music.
Many love songs today can be considered ballads.
A typical ballad consists of stanzas that contain a quatrain, or four poetic lines. The meter or rhythm
of each line is usually iambic, which means it has one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable. In ballads, there are usually eight or six syllables in a line. Like any poem, some ballads
follow this form and some don't, but almost all ballads are narrative, which means they tell a story.
Because the ballad was originally set to music, some ballads have a refrain, or a repeated chorus,
just like a song does. Similarly, the rhyme scheme is often ABAB because of the musical quality of
this rhyme pattern.
While ballads have always been popular, it was during the Romantic movement of poetry in the
late 18th century that the ballad had a resurgence and became a popular form. Many famous
romantic poets, like William Wordsworth, wrote in the ballad form.
 You have probably heard of a ballad being a type of song, but a ballad can also be an intricate poem
where the writer takes the reader on a journey through a story, or event that has happened in their
lives. Writing a ballad is almost like writing a short story, but more elegant and concise, and is a
great way to expand your abilities as a growing poet and here are some tips to start you off:

1. Most often, ballads are stories about love, but you can make your ballad about any event that has deeply
affected you. Ballads are regal ways for you to share any heartfelt experience, whether it is painful or one that
touched you in a positive way. When picking your story, make sure that it has a distinct introduction, a plot
with a problem, and resolution the problem and that you can write about these in the one short poem.
2. The first line of a ballad is the most important because it introduces the reader to the story. In order to reel the
reader in, it might be a good idea to open up the poem with a question or use the word “you” so that the reader
feels like they are truly inserted into this moment in your life. This way, the reader can directly relate to and
feel the emotions you describe in the poem.
3. For this type of poem, you can pick your own rhyme scheme. Most commonly, though, there are four groups
or stanzas, of three lines with an AAB rhyme scheme where the first two lines rhyme and the third line is
different.
4. Something that makes a ballad a unique type of poem is that they have choruses. Typically, the third line of
each stanza is the chorus, so you need to make sure that line is something that is relevant throughout the entire
story, because it will be repeated many times. So, your poem’s rhyme scheme will most likely look like AAB
CCB DDB EEB, with the same line at the end of each stanza.
5. Since ballads tell stories while using rhyme and repetition, they are great for turning into songs. Maybe you
can try putting music to your new poem, or simply giving the poem to someone you love. Whatever you
choose to do with your ballad, make sure to post it to Power Poetry.org and maybe you will inspire more poets
to write this type of poetry!
Take a familiar plunge.
If you’re dipping your toes into the waters of poetry writing, the ballad is
a good place to start, because the form is both basic and familiar.
Whether you’ve taken literature classes, read poetry, or simply listened
to music, you’ve probably heard or read ballads hundreds or thousands
of times.
Structure and tone.
The core structure for a ballad is a quatrain, written in
either abcb or abab rhyme schemes. The first and third lines are iambic
tetrameter, with four beats per line; the second and fourth lines are in
trimeter, with three beats per line.
The second ingredient is the story you want to tell. It can be about you,
someone you know, a relationship, or an experience – good, bad,
triumphant, or tragic.
To begin, sketch out the tale. Don’t worry about beats per line, rhyme
schemes, or stanza breaks. Simply write the story you want to present as
a ballad. Once you’ve written the narrative, pare down the length and
strike all words that don’t drive or describe the action. This bit of editing
will make the conversion process much easier.
Hook your reader.
Now, look at your piece and listen for the beat. Re-form your language
into balladic form, making sure to open with a stanza that sets the table
for the story to unfold:
As I walked into the coffeehouse,
I spotted her sipping tea.
She looked up with her forlorn eyes,
Her sadness clear to me.

This particular stanza could take the story in two directions: an elegiac
tale of how she became sad and can’t overcome it or a hopeful story of
how interaction with the narrator can lift her from her malaise. Present a
plot that can unfold in a number of ways, and you’ll hook your reader’s
imagination and heart.
She invited me to take a seat,
She had a story to tell,
About the day her husband left,
The day love turned to hell.

Tell your story.

Finish setting the stage in the second quatrain, and then unfold the story
with crafty emotion, letting the natural rhythm of the ballad seep from
your mind and heart onto the page.
She gave him everything she had,
Her body, soul and heart,
His old habits got the best of him,
He relapsed; she fell apart.
Off he went on a bender, it seems,
A blur of drugs and drink–
When she confronted him, he said,
"Fine," and took off–just think
Of the pain it caused this woman,
Her eyes folded into her face,
Tears so sharp, bitter and fierce
They’re salting her in place.

Close with authority.

As your ballad winds toward its conclusion, you can retain the rhyme
scheme for the closing stanza or go off-beat with an envoi, or refrain.
Either way, use the penultimate quatrain to make the turn for home and
the final quatrain to close the poem with authority.
Yet she turns up at the coffeehouse,
Loneliness not her style,
Through those sad eyes I can tell
She’s yearning for joy, while
Dealing with the tragedy of losing
A man once very sweet,
A man now lost in his shadows,
Her sadness under his feet.

From banal to mystical.

As you develop your narrative, remember the ballad’s focus on music and
narrative. Even if you write the most banal story about going to the
grocery store, the music could transform your story into a mystical piece.
So as you revise your story into the ballad form, hone the rhythm and
rhyme, making surprising connections with word-sounds. Focus on the
language, and you’ll surely write something to sing.