How to write a ballade poem

A ballade poem is one with a set form. It is a French form poem, not to be confused with the “ballad” form, consisting of twenty-eight lines of no set length. The ballade is divided into three octaves (eight-line stanzas) and a quatrain (four-line stanza), for a total of four stanzas. There are only three rhymes in a ballade poem, and each stanza has a set rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme for each of the eight-line stanzas is a b a b b c b c. The rhyme scheme for the quatrain is b c b c. The last line of each stanza consists of a refrain, or a repeated line. The rhyme and repetition in the ballade makes this form popular with audiences. This form allows the listener to understand the poem more clearly at first hearing or first reading. Here are some easy steps to take when writing your own ballade poem.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• pen
• paper
• plenty of ideas!

1. Your first step will require you to free-write, in order to explore what you want to say. Write for roughly five to ten minutes, never taking your pen off the paper. Write whatever ideas or thoughts that pop into your head!

2. Your next step will be to look for repetition of words that appear in your free write. These repeated words will give you options for your rhyme and refrain in your ballade

3. Your third step will be to think up some rhyming words. Your ballade poem requires eight ‘a’ rhymes and five ‘b’ rhymes. You will also need a refrain rhyme, or your ‘c’ rhyme.

4. Your next step is to write your first stanza, consisting of eight lines, following the rhyme scheme a b a b b c b c. Consider Edwin Arlington Robinson’s ballade titled “Ballade of a Ship.” His rhyme scheme consists of …water (a) …lay (b) …her(a) …bay (b) …way(b) …flying(c) …play(b) and …lying (c). Each of these words appears at the end of each line in the stanza, and your final line needs to be repeated at the end of each stanza, including the quatrain.

5. Now write your second and third stanzas, using the same rhyme scheme as the first. Robinson’s rhyme scheme in his second stanza looks like this: …daughter(a) …say(b) …slaughter(a) …aye(b) …gay(b) …spying(c) …stray(b) …lying(c).

6. With all three octaves written, you finally need to compose your quatrain, consisting of four lines. Robinson’s quatrain follows the rhyme scheme b c b c, and looks like this: …alway(b) …crying(c) …slay(b) …lying(c).

Tips & Warnings

• You’re done! Share your masterpiece with the world!