Ballad Poems | Poemist

Popular Ballad Poems

The Face On The Barroom Floor

by Hugh Antoine D Arcy

'TWAS a balmy summer evening, and a goodly crowd was there,
Which well-nigh filled Joe's barroom, on the corner of the square;
And as songs and witty stories came through the open door,
A vagabond crept slowly in and posed upon the floor.

'Where did it come from?' someone said. ' The wind has blown it in.'
'What does it want?' another cried. 'Some whiskey, rum or gin?'
'Here, Toby, sic 'em, if your stomach's equal to the work -
I wouldn't touch him with a fork, he's filthy as a Turk.'

......

The Ballad Of The Anti-Puritan

by Gilbert Keith Chesterton

They spoke of Progress spiring round,
Of light and Mrs Humphrey Ward--
It is not true to say I frowned,
Or ran about the room and roared;
I might have simply sat and snored--
I rose politely in the club
And said, 'I feel a little bored;
Will someone take me to a pub?'

The new world's wisest did surround

......

In The Droving Days

by Banjo Paterson

"Only a pound," said the auctioneer,
"Only a pound; and I'm standing here
Selling this animal, gain or loss --
Only a pound for the drover's horse?
One of the sort that was ne'er afraid,
One of the boys of the Old Brigade;
Thoroughly honest and game, I'll swear,
Only a little the worse for wear;
Plenty as bad to be seen in town,
Give me a bid and I'll knock him down;

......

A Bronzeville Mother Loiters In Mississippi. Meanwhile, A Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon

by Gwendolyn Brooks

From the first it had been like a
Ballad. It had the beat inevitable. It had the blood.
A wildness cut up, and tied in little bunches,
Like the four-line stanzas of the ballads she had never quite
understood--the ballads they had set her to, in school.
Herself: the milk-white maid, the "maid mild"
Of the ballad. Pursued
By the Dark Villain. Rescued by the Fine Prince.
The Happiness-Ever-After.
That was worth anything.

......

Ballad Of The Goodly Fere

by Ezra Pound

Ha' we lost the goodliest fere o' all
For the priests and the gallows tree?
Aye lover he was of brawny men,
O' ships and the open sea.

When they came wi' a host to take Our Man
His smile was good to see,
"First let these go!" quo' our Goodly Fere,
"Or I'll see ye damned," says he.

......

Recent Ballad Poems

Ballade voor het kind

by Mario Odekerken

In 't avondlicht zo stil en zacht,
waar dromen dwar'len door het gras,
loopt klein een kind,met gouden kracht,
zijn blik als glas,zijn hart van was.

Hij kent geen haat,geen wrok of spijt,
de wereld is nog wit en nieuw,
zijn stappen dansen,licht en wijd,
zijn woorden zijn een helder vuur.

......

Requiem~~an Ode To Time

by Besa Dede

Time moves forward, without stopping
And fastened on her shoulders, bind our existence.
Aged and tired slowly we saunter her
Most are left behind, diminishing in the distance.

Weary, withered, and forgotten
We try to helplessly hinder our steps
But the cruel bitch, the time
Will not rest into one place.

......

The Revenuer

by Tammy Darby

It was a cold clear Ozark night.
The stars were bold and shining bright
When the fiddle playing
Caught up with the echoes of the hounds

The full moon was beaming high.
The fog was heavy, wispy, and white
When the revenuer came sneaking around

He had followed the sweet smell.

......

Blue Roses

by Yoko Fushigina

Long-long ago, as the ballad recalls,
In the castle with ivy woven in walls,
Under dark velvet skies, in the eye of the Moon
With sweet-scented fragrance blue roses bloomed.
Dare not to come close to the sharp spikes of white
For vermilion potion is kept in inside.
In those azure bushes, with hearts in a hand
A couple of lovers had found their end.
This story is ancient, as old as can be,
But the roses bore it for you and for me...

......

A Ballad Of The Two Knights

by Sara Teasdale

Two knights rode forth at early dawn
A-seeking maids to wed,
Said one, "My lady must be fair,
With gold hair on her head."

Then spake the other knight-at-arms:
"I care not for her face,
But she I love must be a dove
For purity and grace."

......