The ballad & the sonnet

Untitled A traditional ballad is an anonymous oral form which is a combination of verse, song and dance. Present day theories suggest that ballad were probably compo- sed by a single author. The traditional ballad tells a story; the subjects are univer- sal themes (love, death, revenge) amoung the common people or, as in many An- glo Scottish ballads, the tragic consequences of the border conflicts between En- glish and Scots. A traditional ballas is usually arranged in a series of four line stanzas which traditionally rhyme abab. We have read The Unquiet Grave; it is a ballad about a young man who doesn't accept the death of his woman. The man to sit on her grave and crys for a one year and a day because he desire one kiss. There is a tragical dialogue between two lovers: first there is a monologue of man then the voice of woman. At the end the woman compares her love with the finest flower that now is withered to a stalk. The sonnet is a poem of 14 lines with rigid rules. It was born in Italy with Waytt and Surrey and was imported into England in 16th century. The Italian sonnet is divided into an opening two quatrains and two tersets. The English sonnet is di- vided into three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme couplet is a short comment of what the author says in the sonnet. In the first sonnet Shakespeare compares himself to autumn in the first four lines, then to twilight and in the final quatrain to fire. The theme is growing old. In the rhyme couplet Shakespeare says that this will make love stronger, infact she will love him more strongly because the poet very soon will go away. Shakespeare dedicates the sonnet CXXX to his love. The three quatrains are a description of his lady. The author doesn't underline her beaty and it seems a ne- gative description, but in the final couplet he declars his love for his lady.