Home › Glossary › Letter B

ballade form

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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

A medieval French poetic form with refrains and rhyme scheme, often with an envoi

Detailed Definition
Ballade form is a French lyric structure comprising three stanzas of identical rhyme scheme and meter, followed by a shorter envoy, traditionally used for courtly or philosophical themes; each stanza ends with the same refrain, creating a resonant, cyclical effect that underscores the poem’s central message.
Example
Example in poetry:
François Villon’s “Ballade des pendus” exemplifies the French ballade’s recurring refrain and formal address; A traditional ballade has three eight-line stanzas, usually ababbcbc, followed by a four-line envoi; The final line of each stanza repeats exactly, creating a refrain that gathers new meaning; Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s “Ballade of Dead Ladies” adapts the form in English; An envoi often begins by addressing a “Prince,” though modern poets may replace that convention with another direct address
Additional Notes
ballade form is a complex, fixed French poetic form typically consisting of three stanzas and a shorter concluding stanza (envoi), all using the same rhyme scheme and ending with a recurring refrain line.
Also Known As
ballade classic form French ballade medieval ballade ballade structure Ballade
Skip to main content