A ballad
is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French
chanson balladée or ballade,
which were originally "dancing songs". Ballads were particularly
characteristic of the popular poetry and song of the British Isles from the
later medieval
period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and
later the Americas,
Australia
and North Africa.
Many ballads were written and sold as single sheet broadsides.
The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical
ballads. In the later 19th century it took on the meaning of a slow form of
popular love song and the term is now often used as synonymous with any love
song, particularly the pop or rock power ballad.
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