1. Lord Randall Introducing the Poem Literary Focus: Ballad
Feature Menu
Introducing the Poem
Literary Focus: Ballad
Reading Focus: Understanding Purpose
Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer
TechFocus

2. Lord Randall What happens when true love goes wrong?
Introducing the Poem
What happens when true love goes wrong?

3. Lord Randall Introducing the Poem
Click on the title to start the video.

4. Lord Randall Introducing the Poem
Love is whatever you can still betray Betrayal can only happen if you love.
John le Carré

5. Lord Randall Introducing the Poem
Sensationalism in the Middle Ages
Three Dead Sons Visit Mother for Dinner
Slighted Woman Spurns Lover’s Deathbed Request
These aren’t the latest tabloid headlines. They’re the plots of medieval ballads. In the Middle Ages, just as today, some forms of popular entertainment tended toward the sensational.

6. Lord Randall Introducing the Poem
Poetry of the People
Ballads were the poetry of the people, just as popular music is today. Ballads had subjects such as
domestic tragedy
false love
the supernatural
What modern popular songs can you think of that have these same subjects?

7. Lord Randall Introducing the Poem
Song and Dance
The word ballad is derived from an Old French word meaning “dancing song.”
The structure and meter of the English ballads make it clear that they were intended to be sung to music.
Listen to part of the ballad.

8. Lord Randall Introducing the Poem
Poetry of the People
The ballads of the Middle Ages
were passed down orally from singer to singer
had strong beats and repetition
were a gift of story passed from generation to generation

9. Lord Randall Introducing the Poem
In this ballad, Lord Randall has just returned from the forest. He tells his mother that all he wants to do is lie down.
Is Lord Randall simply tired from hunting?
What happened in the forest? Was there some kind of foul play, as his mother suspects?
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10. Lord Randall Literary Focus: Ballad
Ballads are songs or songlike poems that tell stories in simple, rhythmic language.
Ballads usually include
sensational or tragic subject matter
omitted details
supernatural events
a refrain—a repeated word, line, or group of lines

11. Lord Randall Literary Focus: Ballad
Ballad singers often used certain conventions:
incremental repetition—repeating a phrase or sentence, adding a new element each time, to build suspense
“O where hae ye been, Lord Randall, my son?
“Where gat ye your dinner, Lord Randall, my son?
“What gat ye to your dinner, Lord Randall, my son?”

12. Lord Randall Literary Focus: Ballad
Ballad singers often used certain conventions:
question-and-answer format—a series of questions whose answers reveal facts of the story little by little; used to build suspense
“O where hae ye been, Lord Randall, my son? O where hae ye been, my handsome young man?”
“I hae been to the wild wood; mother, make my bed soon, For I’m weary wi’ hunting and fain wald lie down.”

13. Lord Randall Literary Focus: Ballad
Ballad singers often used certain conventions:
conventional phrases—word groups understood by listeners to have a meaning beyond the literal one
a strong, simple beat
relatively uncomplicated verse forms
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14. Lord Randall Reading Focus: Understanding Purpose
Although the author of “Lord Randall” is unknown, we can determine the author’s purpose from details in the text, such as
dialogue
images
repetition
In “Lord Randall,” the mother repeats several phrases in each stanza. That repetition indicates that she loves her boy and is upset by his behavior.
We can guess that the ballad’s purpose is to share a tragic event with listeners.

15. Lord Randall Reading Focus: Understanding Purpose
Into Action: As you read, note details that help you determine the purposes of the ballads. Use a chart like the one below to record your findings.
Lord Randall Get Up and Bar Edward, Edward the Door
mother’s pleading tone
Details:
to move to sadness
Purpose:
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16. Lord Randall Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer
Find It in Your Reading
Repetition is an essential feature of ballads. Incremental repetition—a phrase or sentence that is repeated with a new element each time—helps advance the story until the climax is reached.
As you read, pay special attention to the use of repetition.
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17. Lord Randall Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer
TechFocus
As you read, think about what a music video version of a ballad might look like.
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18. The End