This contains some of the greatest ballads written (Lord Randall, Barbara Allen, The Daemon Lover), with a brief introduction to the history of ballads, & notes in the back summarizing the plot of each one.
I must say that the interpretations of the poems in the book are far different that what we taught in school. In this edition, Graves associated most of the poems with the use of witchcraft. For example, in the poem of Barbara Allen, it was interpreted that the young women held a grudge from the slight she had received, & so she was not going to allow the man the luxury of being forgiven by accepting his apology on his deathbed (from some unknown cause), & that Barbara Allen then died of a broken heart. Graves specifically states that she did not die of a broken heart, but that she had poisoned/cursed the man for having discarded her for to marry a woman of his own class, & afterward poisoned herself as well.
Perhaps that is not the best example, however, since there are over 350 known versions of Barbara Allen. But the same theme runs throughout the book.
I must say that the interpretations of the poems in the book are far different that what we taught in school. In this edition, Graves associated most of the poems with the use of witchcraft. For example, in the poem of Barbara Allen, it was interpreted that the young women held a grudge from the slight she had received, & so she was not going to allow the man the luxury of being forgiven by accepting his apology on his deathbed (from some unknown cause), & that Barbara Allen then died of a broken heart. Graves specifically states that she did not die of a broken heart, but that she had poisoned/cursed the man for having discarded her for to marry a woman of his own class, & afterward poisoned herself as well.
Perhaps that is not the best example, however, since there are over 350 known versions of Barbara Allen. But the same theme runs throughout the book.
