Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of England, Ireland and Scotland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Europe, and later in Australia, North Africa, North America and South America. While ballads have no prescribed structure and may vary in their number of lines and stanzas, many ballads employ quatrains with A B C B {\displaystyle \mathrm {ABCB} } or A B A B {\displaystyle \mathrm {ABAB} } rhyme schemes, the key being a rhymed second and fourth line. Additionally, couplets rarely appear in ballads.