Read these stanzas from “Robin Hood and the Beggar.” In this part of the ballad, Robin Hood’s men have found the beggar who foug
ht with Robin Hood. The men are planning what to do with the beggar and his money. How do these stanzas fit the characteristics of a ballad?
Excerpt from “Robin Hood and the Beggar”
They thought they would the money take,
Come after what so may:
And then they would not bring him back,
But in that place him slay.
By that good Robin would not know
That they had gotten coin;
It would content him for to show
That there they had him slain.
A. Each stanza contains a metaphor and simile.
B. There is a refrain between stanzas.
C. There is a regular rhythm and rhyme scheme.
D. A subject is given human characteristics.
Ballad is a poem or song displayed in short stanzas. The excerpt presented exemplifies a ballad which is a narrative poem containing either ABCB or ABAB rhyme scheme where the first and third line is in iambic tetrameter while the second and fourth are in trimeter.<u>These stanzas exemplify the regular rhythm and rhyme scheme</u> as reflected by the words 'may', 'know', 'coin' rhyming with the words 'slay', 'show' and 'slain'. It employs alternate lines with four and three beats alternatively in the lines. Thus, the correct answer is option C.
