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Search - A Book of British Ballads

A Book of British Ballads
Author: Various

INTRODUCTION - THE word ('ballad " is admittedly of very wide significance. Meaning originally " a song inteirded as 'the accompanimen-tt9 a dance," it was afterwards applied !o " ". light simple song of any kind,, with a l6aning towards the sentimental or romanticl and, in its preseni use, is defined by Dr. .Ir{urray as ,,a iimple spiritei poem... more » inshort stanzas, in which some popular stbry ii graphically told." P3s.gingo ver the obsoleie senseo f .ia popular song specially celebrating or scurrilously attacking some person or.institutionr" J-vem ay note that Dr. Johnson calls a ballad " a song," and quotes a stateme-nt from \Vatts,.that it once ",rjgnt!._d a-solemn and sacred song a'Tsh we eBll aalsla ad torifv Biaal,l lawdhse,'n b Suot lnoomwo int 'sisS oanpg'p wlieaast coa nlloetdh tihnig but trifling verse." Ballad-collectorsh, owever,h ave never strictly regarded any one of these definitions, and to me their lattrilicity seems worthy of imitation. I have demanded no more of a ballad than that it should be a simple spirited narrative; and, though excluding the pure lj'rics^and metrical romancesf ound in Percy's Reliqueso r elsewhereI, have been guided in doubtlul cases rather by intuition than by rule; baving inclu_dedp oems- written in every variety oi metre except blank verse, and even the lattei mav seem to be represented by Blake's Fsir Elinor. _ Moreover, this is a collection of poems, not of archaological__ specimensv-oerr seso n great historic bvents; and the ballads have been chosen according to my judgment of their artistic merits. z. .lfter the best traditionary ballads of Eneland and Scotland,.a small group of Peasant Ballads still sung in go.yntry districts, and, many of them, sold as broadsides, follow selected modern experiments in the art of balhdl writing by English, Scottish, and Welsh poets, with a mixed group of Irish ballads; those on foreign or-classical subjects being in each case excluded. The text of the old ballads has been carefully preoared from the best authorities (as named in the Contentsr' irnder each title), and the spelling is modernised so far as can be done witliout injuring thelhythm or accentuation. Brief historical or explanatbry notes are printed in the Table of Contents, arid obsollte terms are explained in footnotes. No attempt has been made to settle disputed dates oI composition, but the ballads are arranged in groups accoiding to the collection (a.g. Percy's Reliques, Scott's Minstreliy, etc.) in which they were first inclu9-qd, and thus broieht before the notice'of the literary public: the text often-following quite a difierent version. The groups are arrangeda ccor:diirgto the dates of publication of the collections. D. For the Peasant Ballads one text is seldom more authoritative than another, and minor difierences have to be settled by personal judgment. The versions here ofiered, have, in many cases, been-prepared from those populai in difierent paits of England: notice being taken, in each case, of whether-and in what form-they may still be had f'rom Mr. Such, of rz3 Union Street, Borough; who keeps a Aood stock of old broadsides, probably the largest now oi sale. They are believed to represent the mo"st poetical form of the iongs which were the favourites of thd elder generation, and which a1e b-eing now su-persededb y the-shortera nd more sensationael fiusionso f the music-h'all. They area rrangeda ccordingt o theirsubjects. r, The modeni bailads ire arranged chronologically, according to the dates of birth of their authors, and are intendedto be, so far as possible, representative of our best Doets. Parodies anil dialect poems have been ourooiely omitted, because they form classes by themietv'es aia are essentially difierent in spirit from both the traditionary and the literary ballads. This restriction ' does not involve the omission of all poems with humorous subiects or treatment. Iiy calling these ballads " modern " I do not wish to imoiv that iverv ot e of them was wr

ISBN-13: 9781408633861
ISBN-10: 1408633868
Publication Date: 11/16/2007
Pages: 364
Rating:

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Publisher: Hoar Press
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

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