Traditional Ballads
by Anonymous
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 1300-1700
- Era
- Renaissance
- Form
- Lyric poetry
- Language
- English
- Length
- Medium · 150 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Oxford Book of BalladsOxford University Press, 1969James Kinsley's selection from Child, with the texts printed as sung rather than tidied.
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Anonymous narrative songs passed on orally in England and Scotland, written down from the late Middle Ages and collected in bulk by Percy, Scott and Francis James Child in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In short stanzas with refrains and abrupt leaps, they tell of murdered lovers, drowned sailors, revenants, border raids and outlaws. The Harvard Classics selection of thirty-one includes Sir Patrick Spens, The Twa Corbies, Edward, Chevy Chase, Thomas Rymer and the long Gest of Robyn Hode.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Traditional Ballads are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
