A narrative poem intended to be sung, consisting of multiple stanzas and usually including a refrain. The subject matter of the poem usually related to chivalric adventures, love stories, or tales of horror. The ballads used in John Gay's opera were viewed as bawdy.

or literary ballad, is a long singing poem that tells a story (usually of love or adventure), written in quatrains - four lines alternatively of four and three feet - the third line may have internal rhymes.

From the folk music tradition in particular, a ballad is a song that tells a story (e.g. John Henry). However in most other modern music genres including pop and jazz, ballad refers to any song that is downbeat, slow and emotional (e.g." Misty", "Yesterday", "Crazy For You"). A decent ballad can be hugely emotional, a bad one can just sound naff. Ballads are a strong chart currency at the moment – if you're a boyband your first (and invariably every other) single will be a ballad.

a short, narrative poem with stanzas of two or four lines and usually a refrain

a dramatic chronological story-poem.

a narrative poem, frequently of unknown authorship, composed of short verses intended to be sung or recited. Note: "In Scotland, Hungary, and elsewhere in Europe, the ballad is a very old type of poem that contains elements of the epic, lyric, and drama, and is often tragic in tone" (Adamik-Jaszo, 1994). a popular type of folksong, as Mexican "Corridos."

(OALD) simple song or poem, esp one that tells a story.

Usually a self-contained narrative (i.e., story-telling) song, like Schubert's Erlkönig or Senta's ballad from Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman). Sometimes used more generally to describe any singable or popular tune.

a narrative song or poem

a narrative song with a recurrent refrain

a narrative poem of popular origin

a kind or genre of poetry usually meant to be sung

a narrative composition in rhythmic verse suitable for singing

a narrative poem employing quatrains with alternating four-beat and three-beat lines, and rhymes in the second and fourth lines

a narrative poem that has a musical rhythm and can be sung

a particular form of narrative poetry that can help us to remember people or events that have passed, so that they are preserved in history

a poem or song which usually tells a story in the popular language of the day, and has associations with traditional folk culture

a slower, more mellow song performed during halftime

a slow pansy sappy song

a song, originally transmitted orally, which tells a story

a song that tells a mythical story, and NOT necesserily a song that's slow

a song that tells a story, and was originally a musical accompaniment to a dance

a song to dance to

a stanzaic saga that tells a story, usually with a catastrophic ending

a story, distilled to its essence and set to song

a story told in verse (a poem) and set to music

a traditional folksong without lyrics

a type of narrative poem

A narrative folksong, usually created by common people and passed on orally.

a narrative poem, usually sung or recited

songs that tell stories about historical events and characters. Such events may have major, national social-political implications, or recount occurrences within a local community.

a simple poem, usually created for singing, dealing with a dramatic episode.

Ancient poem telling a story

a traditional folk song which is a narrative; it tells a story.

A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung. The earliest ballads, known as folk ballads or popular ballads, were composed anonymously and transmitted orally for generations.

1: A song that tells a story. 2: A slow sentimental song. 3: Originally a song accompanying dancing.

A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an example of a ballad.

A poem in verse form that tells a story. See Poetry, Refrain

a romantic popular song, usually slow or middle tempo, most often with a thirty-two bar chorus.

(also known as POPULAR BALLAD or FOLK BALLAD) A narrative poem which is, or originally was, meant to be sung. Ballads are the narrative species of folk songs, which originate, and are communicated orally, among illiterate and only partly literate people. Typically, a ballad is dramatic, condensed and impersonal: the narrator begins with the climactic episode, tells the story tersely by means of action and dialogue, and tells it without self-reference or the expression of personal attitudes or feelings.

1. A folk song. 2. A popular romantic song.

A song or song-poem that tells a story, in several stanzas.

A narrative, sentimental poem set to music.

a narrative poem that tells a story dramatically without personal commentary by the narrator. Folk ballads were popular in England and Scotland in the Middle Ages when literature was primarily delivered orally . The second type, literary ballads are imitations of folk ballads but tend to be longer and are not meant to be sung.

The ballad form consists of quatrains with four beats in lines one and three, and three beats in lines two and four; content matter usually consists of love, adventure, and talks of fatal relationships.

A strophic narrative song, often passed along through the oral tradition.

a short narrative poem, originally a song and maintaining strong links with the oral tradition. The ballad usually deals with a single event in straightforward language.

a story-telling poem with two to four lines per stanza and a refrain

A simple song. A song that tells astory.

Term originating from the Portuguese word balada meaning 'dancing-song'. However, it normally refers to either a simple song e.g. Danny Boy or to a narrative poem (often with a tragic ending). Bob Dylan wrote and sang some wonderfully mournful ballads e.g. The Ballad of Hollis Brown. The ballad stanza is a quatrain where the second and fourth lines rhyme. La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats is in ballad form. It usually features alternating four-stress and three-stress lines.

A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend and often has a repeated refrain. Do the words "Quoth the raven: 'Nevermore!'" ring a bell? (Fun fact: Edgar Allen Poe wrote the narrative poem "The Raven," from which that line is taken, backwards, from end to beginning.)

A ballad is a story, usually a narrative or poem, in a song. Any story form may be told as a ballad, such as historical accounts or fairy tales in verse form. It usually has foreshortened, alternating four- and three-stress lines ('ballad meter') and simple repeating rhymes, often with a refrain.