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Four-line ballad stanza

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

A traditional stanza form of four lines with alternating meter and rhyme

Detailed Definition
Four-line ballad stanza, or ballad quatrain, is a traditional folk form consisting of four lines with alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter (4-3-4-3) and an ABCB rhyme scheme; its strong beat, simple diction, and narrative focus make it ideal for storytelling, particularly tales of love, tragedy, or the supernatural, passed down through oral tradition.
Example
Example in poetry:
Traditional ballad stanza with alternating tetrameter and trimeter lines (“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”); “Barbara Allen”; Burns’ “John Anderson, My Jo”; Dickinson ballads.
Additional Notes
A Four-line ballad stanza is synonymous with the folk quatrain; it is the most common stanza form for traditional ballads, consisting of four lines, typically alternating between iambic tetrameter (four feet) and iambic trimeter (three feet), rhyming ABCB.
Also Known As
Ballad quatrain four-line ballad form stanzaic ballad unit
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