The revival of interest in folk literature at the start of the eighteenth century coincided with an increasing use of the ballad form by writers in the established canon. These literary expansions of the mode did not seek to imitate avowedly “simple” attitudes in the way that Wordsworth and Coleridge professed to do in
Lyrical Ballads(1798). For one thing, they were influenced less by traditional folk literature, commonly disseminated orally and dealing with rural life, than by the predominantly urban broadside ballads, in most cases appearing in printed form. In addition, they often follow the rhythms and stanzaic patterns of well known tunes, which their Romantic successors rarely chose to attempt. Among the writers skilled in the adaptation of the older popular form to
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Citation: Rogers, Pat. "Down-Hall, a Ballad". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 July 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5530, accessed 23 November 2024.]
