1 IMITATION BALLADS FOR OPTIONAL READING 1 Note.-Report on at least seven imitation ballads. Give author and central thought of each. With what degree of success did the author catch the genuine ballad spirit and subject-matter? In what particulars did he fail? Which of these ballads read seemed to you to be the best imitation? "The Battle of Agincourt". "John Gilpin's Ride". "The True Ballad of Charitie," from "The Rowley Papers" "The Bristowe Tragedie," from "The Rowley Papers" "The De'il's Awa' wi' the Exciseman", "The Battle of Blenheim". "The Inchcape Rock".. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". "Jock o' Hazeldean". "Lochinvar" Michael Drayton . Chatterton Chatterton .Burns Coleridge Scott . Scott 1 These ballads may be found in general collections of English and Ameri can poetry or in connection with the author's works. "The Ballad of Father Gilligan". "The Fiddler of Dooney". "Burial Party" (from "Salt Water Ballads") "Harbour Bar" (from "Salt Water Ballads"). "Cape Horn Gospel I" (from "Salt Water Ballads") "The Cremation of Sam McGee", "Ballad of Manila Bay". "Soldier, Soldier" "Ballad of Lieutenant Miles". "Langemarck at Ypres". .C. C. Moore Lanier . Mackay Kipling .Kipling .Kipling .Kipling Kipling Kipling .Wm. Butler Yeats .Wm. Butler Yeats ...Masefield .Masefield .Masefield .Masefield Masefield C. G. D. Roberts REVIEW 1. Sum up what you have learned regarding the ballad. 2. What special interest have you found in ballads? Have you caught something of their charm? Can you make yourselves look sympathetically at life through the eyes of the ballad singers? 3. Do you see why it is hard to write successful imitation ballads? What authors, have you found, wrote them with the nearest approach to success? CHAPTER IV THE METRICAL TALE Characteristics of the Metrical Tale. The metrical tale is a narrative poem, usually so short that it can be read easily at one sitting. It leaves a single impression with the reader. It is not so long as the metrical romance, and not so fanciful, and it deals with any emotion or phase of life. It makes no attempt to handle extraordinary situations, but to tell a simple, straightforward story in as realistic a manner as possible. The characters are common every-day people and not those of a special class. The metrical tale is to poetry what the short-story is to prose. Many of the modern or imitation ballads may really be classified as metrical tales. The only reason for placing them with the ballads is because of the swing, spirit, and rapidity of the story. Chaucer. The first great writer of the metrical tale in England, as regards both order of time and rank, was Chaucer. Note. Since the metrical tale is to be emphasized here as a literary type, it seems wise to omit the thorough study of the Prologue to the "Canterbury Tales," inasmuch as it forms only the introduction, and is not a tale in itself. A brief account of the "Canterbury Tales" as a whole is given here, however, so that the student may get an idea of the general plan and spirit of the work. If it is desired, of course, the Prologue may be taken up at this point, using one of the texts found in any of the regular series of classics. The Canterbury Tales.-Chaucer's masterpiece, "The Canterbury Tales," is a large collection of otherwise isolated stories, which are welded into one unified work by means of the prologue and the interludes, or links between the tales. In this Prologue the author introduces twenty-nine pilgrims who are going on a pilgrimage to the shrine of the martyred Archbishop, Thomas à Becket, at Canterbury. They meet by chance at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, and, as they discover that they are all bound on the same errand, they decide to travel together. Chaucer represents himself as one of the number, and takes occasion to give us vivid pictures of the other members of the party before they set out upon |