Analysis of the traditional ballad “Lord Randall”
...as been poisoned by his lover and will soon die. The ballad consists of ten stanzas with four lines in each stanza and is arranged in couplets . There is not a specific rhyme scheme because we don’t find a real rhyming. However, the repetition of phrases and the rhythm produced create a certain rhyme pattern. Instead of exact rhyme ,each line of all stanzas ends with the same consonant sound ‘n’. The ballad begins without any introduction .The audience is directly thrown into a conversation between two people and the story starts immediately to “gather speed”. Thus, the audience’s interest is drawn and dramatic effect is created. The repetition of phrases take a very important place and in fact the whole ballad is built upon them. The frequent repetition of words, phrases and lines is common in ballads but in “Lord Randall” is deliberately used to emphasizes the tragic events . The second half of every line in every stanza is repeated throughout the whole ballad –“…Lord Randal ,my son?/…,my handsome young man ?”/…,mak my bed soon,/…,and fain wad lie down.” These repetitions have importance in exhibiting the conversation between Lord Randal and his mother and they contribute to the dramatic effects. The first part of the first two lines of every stanza is also repeated-“And what did she give you ,…/And what did she give you …” or “What ye leave to your true-love ,…/What d’ ye leave to your true-love,…” . In the first and the sixth stanza there is an additional exclamation “O” which may be considered as used by chance ,but also it may be purposely used. I think that it has its place among the means of expression because it produces a dramatic effect which is very important especially for the beginning of a ballad because it attracts the attention of the hearers .The exclamation in the sixth stanza is also deliberately used because at this stage it is the culmination of the story and this reinforces the idea. The significance of this stanza and the fact that it is reached another stage of the development of the story by the revealing of the real cause of Lord Randall’s suffering ,is very clear emphasized by the change in the refrain. The last line in the first five stanzas is repeated, forming the refrain of the bal...