Traditional Poetic Form

1. Normally a short narrative arranged into four line stanzas with a memorable meter.
2. Typical ballad meter is a first and third line with four stresses (iambic tetrameter) and then a second and fourth line with three stresses (iambic trimeter).
3. The rhyme scheme is typically abab or abcb.
4. Often uses colloquialisms to enhance the story telling (and sometimes to alter the rhyme scheme).
5. A Ballad is usually meant to be sung or recited in musical form.
6. Contains iambic pentameter.