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Ballad quatrain

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The traditional four-line stanza form of ballads, alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter

Detailed Definition
A ballad quatrain is a four-line stanza typically rhyming ABAB or ABCB, alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter lines; it is the foundational structure of traditional English and Scottish ballads, used to narrate folk tales, tragedies, or legends with rhythmic simplicity and oral fluency.
Example
Example in poetry:
A ballad quatrain uses ABCB rhyme and alternating 4-3 stress lines; example: “The wind it blew / across the moor (A) / She closed her eyes / and shut the door (B).”
Additional Notes
Four-line stanza in ballad form. Typically alternating tetrameter and trimeter lines with abcb rhyme. Narrative stanza form. Identical to common measure and ballad meter. Traditional vehicle for storytelling in verse.
Also Known As
Four-line ballad stanza narrative four-line unit folk quatrain Ballad stanza common quatrain Folk ballad stanza Traditional narrative quatrain
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