ballad

Poem-a-Day April 3: a dimension lost

Hello Friends — and Happy Birthday to Dara, who I love because she helps me ask questions like this:

IS LOVE

Midwives and winding sheets
know birthing is hard
and dying is mean
and living’s a trial in between.

Why do we journey, muttering
like rumors among the stars?
Is a dimension lost?
Is it love?

“Is Love” by Maya Angelou, from her 1990 collection I Shall Not Be Moved, can be considered a ballad. But notice that as Angelou descends into lost, the ballad form breaks down: the meter becomes more irregular, the rhyme more imperfect.

The ballad form was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 25, 2011, or you can read more about ballads on www.poets.org, the website of the Academy of American Poets.

Cheers,
Ellen

Poem-a-Day, April 25: Berkeley Street Cannibals

BALLAD

Tell me the evening,
tell me the day,
and tell the night
to stay away.

Tell me a story,
tell me a game,
tell me everything
except my name.

Tell me a picture,
tell me a song,
tell me what
went wrong.

Hello Friends,
Along with being one of the most ancient poetic forms, the ballad is also one of the most universal: it pre-dates the written word and can be found across almost every language, every country, every culture, and every century. Today’s balladeer is the street poet Julia Vinograd, from her collection Berkeley Street Cannibals: Selected Poems, 1969-1976.
Enjoy.
Ellen

“Ballad” by Julia Vinograd was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 12, 2009.
Poet Julia Vinograd were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 20, 2007.

Poem-a-Day, April 12: Berkeley Street Cannibals

BALLAD

Tell me the evening,
tell me the day,
and tell the night
to stay away.

Tell me a story,
tell me a game,
tell me everything
except my name.

Tell me a picture,
tell me a song,
tell me what
went wrong.

Hello Friends,

Today’s balladeer is Julia Vinograd, from Berkeley Street Cannibals: Selected Poems, 1969-1976.

The ballad form pre-dates the written word and is firmly rooted in the oral traditions of storytelling and song. Along with being one of the most ancient, the ballad is also one of the most universal poetic forms: it can be found across almost every language, every country, every culture, and every century — right on through twentieth century Berkeley, California.

April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating by emailing out my own selection of one poem per day for the duration of the month. If you wish to be unsubscribed from this Poem-a-Day email list at any time, please reply to this email with a friendly unsubscribe request (preferably in heroic couplet form). You may also request to add a consenting friend to the list, or even nominate a poem.

To learn more about National Poetry Month, or to subscribe to a more official-like Poem-a-Day list, visit www.poets.org.

Enjoy.
Ellen

“Ballad” by Julia Vinograd was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 25, 2011.
Poet Julia Vinograd were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 20, 2007.