Literary Ballad

A literary ballad is a poem written by a specific author. These ballads are not set to music. An example of a literary ballad would be Dudley Randall's ballad "Dressed All In Pink"

Dressed All In Pink
by Dudley Randall

It was a wet and cloudy day
when the prince took his last ride.
The prince rode with the gonernor,
and his princess rode beside.

"And would you like to ride inside
for shelter from the rain?"
"No I'll ride outside, where I can wave
and speak to my friends again."

They ride among the cheering crowds,
the young prince and his mate.
The governor says, "See how they smile
and cheer you where they wait."

The prince rides with the governor,
his princess rides beside,
dressed all in pink as delicate
as roses of a bride.

Pink as a rose the princess rides,
but bullets from a gun
turn that pink to as deep a red
as red, red blood can run,

for she bends to where the prince lies still
and cradles his shattered head,
and there that pink so delicate
is stained a deep, deep red.

The prince rides with the governor,
the princess rides beside,
and her dress of pink so delicate
a deep, deep red is dyed.

-written about the assassination of JFK
-Jackie Kennedy is the princess
-iambic tetrameter
-rhyming scheme: abcb
-the dress symbolizes the country itself falling from grace
-colour imagery of pink as roses and red as blood
-princess is described in colour
-"dyed" at the end has a double meaning
-dress is said to be as pink as roses but roses are also a deep shade of red, but the dress is not referred to a rose when it is covered in blood
-Pink is the colour of innocence and it turning red is significant in displaying the loss of innocence