This literary genre in the modern world is notis especially popular and is something very unusual and exquisite. In many respects this happens because this form of narration is very complex and requires the author of skill and real talent. It is very easy for a person familiar with the literary world to explain what a ballad is.
Folklore singing
The ballad is a lyrical work with a plotepic nature. This form of narration gives the writer the opportunity to use a large number of expressive means, to strengthen the text's emotionality with the help of alliteration and assonance, to emphasize the beauty of the character's direct speech using beautiful rhymes. Most of the story of the ballads is associated with folklore, some heroic stories and legends. Often you come across songs with the name "Ballad of a Hero", "Ballad of a Warrior" and the like. It is always assumed that a ballad can be put on music, so it is almost chanted. Ideally, the ballad on which music is written should contain a large number of assonances for the softest sound.
Sweet song flows
To understand what a ballad is, you need to readeven a small extract of the work of this genre. Usually ballads are not easy to perceive the modern reader, how uncomfortable it is to perceive and any great poetic text. Attention is diverted to the narrative form, and the events described are skipped past the ears, and the unprepared reader will rather note the beauty of the rhyme than he can keep track of the details of the plot and the motives of the characters. Perhaps that's why the ballad genre is not very common, and few of the "uninitiated" know exactly what a ballad is. In the majority, it is associated with literature of ancient times, when the ability to use the sublime syllable was mandatory for each author. Today, poetry has become much simpler, and it concerns song lyrics as well. Much more attention is paid to the visual design of a video clip than to the textual content of a modern song. However, even now modern, modernized ballads are born, again bringing listeners back to the past.
France - the birthplace of the genre
It is quick to explain what a ballad is, betterall on a concrete example. It should begin with French literature, since it was in France that this attractive form of literary creation was born. It was in this country that the ballad genre appeared as a result of the cancellation of canzone in the last decades of the 13th century. We can say that the love French song "evolved" into something more serious and deep, into a style with a more complex form and vast content. One of the very first ballads in France was created by Lafontaine, known throughout the world for his immortal fables. His ballads were fairly simple in content and form, so later they were mercilessly criticized by more experienced and sophisticated ballad makers. The same mood, the same properties that had the fables of La Fontaine, the writer transferred to his ballads. A good example of a French, almost modern ballad is the "La ballade de la nonne" by Victor Hugo. His skill in writing works of this genre once again confirms the skill of the writer.
Ballads of Misty Albion
The genre of the ballad was also widely spread inEngland. It is believed that the genre itself was brought to the lands of the Foggy Albion by the Norman conquerors. On the territory of England, the ballad acquired even more serious features, began to touch on dark themes and changed significantly in the mood. Who knows, maybe the fog has done its work. First, the English sang the Scandinavian god Odin, and then smoothly moved to the theme of the exploits of Scottish heroes. In these ballads, the national color of this country is very clearly observed, which can not be confused with anything else. Few people have not heard the story of Robin Hood, the prince of thieves, plundering the rich and giving away the looted poor. About him, the British also piled up ballads. English literary works in the genre of ballads also widely cover the theme of the adventures of King Arthur and his knights. Even now it is not difficult to imagine how weary heroes sit comfortably at the fire, take lutes and sing each other ballads about the search for the Holy Grail and the magic of the great Merlin Ambrosius.
Harsh German ballads
Like the British, German ballad writers, toopreferred gloominess and seriousness, so German ballads differ in a heavy atmosphere. The best ballads of Germany were created in the heyday of romanticism. In this genre, such famous writers as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gottfried August Burger and Heinrich Heine tried their feather. The German character of these authors can be traced even in such a refined literary work as a ballad. Goethe's ballad called Der Erlkönig is very famous. There are several translations of this name, but most often you can see "The King of the Elves". The plot of this ballad is very sad and almost stereotyped in German stern. The ballad describes the death of a little boy, presumably at the hands of this very king of elves. It can not be said for sure that the ballad has a mystical character. It is possible that the boy was dying of the disease, and the supernatural beings were just glowering with him.
Ballads of our time
Definition of the genre of the ballad today a fewspread out. In modern times, this literary genre has acquired lightness and simplicity, but has not lost its authenticity. Examples of such works or at least ballad-like songs can be found all the time in the work of folk groups. For example, the groups Fleur and "Mill" sometimes use the word "ballad" directly in their songs, so they sound more romantic and refined. Sometimes ballads sound in the cinema on a historical or heroic theme, and sometimes they can be heard in computer games. The best example is the relatively new game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, where bards sang beautiful ballads about local heroes and conquerors. Literary genre, which has such beauty, is unlikely to ever completely lose its relevance.
