What is a Ballade?

A ballade is a type of poetry, this type of poetry first became popular in the 14th century.

The Structure of a Ballade

A Ballade poem should have three stanzas and an envoy/envoi.

The rhyming pattern for the stanzas is ababbcbC.

The rhyming pattern for the envoy is bcbC.

The capital letter in the rhyming patterns shows where the refrain should be.

Example of a Ballade

Why don’t you try writing a ballade poem and enter it into one of our poetry competitions.

or information on poetry types other than an acrostic visit our poetry glossary – poetry types.