Ballad of Birmingham

**M.o_o.N** · 07-10-2009, 05:17 PM

Ballad of Birmingham

Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"
"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."

"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.

But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"

Dudley Randall

“Lord Randal” is a somber literary ballad of murder and betrayal. The poem succeeds in creating a mood and intriguing readers through rhythm and arrangement of facts, rather than, the customary imagery. The anonymous author recounts this dramatic irony in the form of five questions and five answers each of which is followed by a refrain and are the outline for all quatrains. My wonder at the emotional impact yielded through such a casual structure, is the inducement behind this particular selection.

The first stanza describes a seemingly innocent action; Lord Randal returns home, conceivably wearied, after a long day of hunting. The rhyme scheme in this leading quatrain of a b c d sets the fabric to be followed throughout the entirety, as well as, the end-stopped lines and the cacophony employed to slow down the reading in the last sentence of each stanza. Although, some may argue that ‘wild’ (line 3) and ‘weary’ (line 4) foretell what is to come through their ambiguous connotations: wild implying beastly as well as mad, and weary denoting both physically and mentally weary; I believe the mood to be initially suggested in the second verse, making the first unique solely in attitude.

Lord Randal’s mother questioning where her son has dined is the opening to the coming strophe. The suspicion originates in Lord Randal’s response where he discloses having dined with his “true love” and emphasizes his, now excessive, fatigue. This redundancy evokes suspicion in the reader and his mother. The simple refrain becomes an effectual dramatic device as its denotation increases with every application. Nowhere is this more prominent than in the third verse. In it, Lord Randal is asked ‘what’ he has dined, instead of ‘where’, and once again we undergo the efficacy of the refrain. The mother’s repetitious interrogatory correspondingly displays her growing mistrust; consequently, the reader’s likewise.
The fourth section depicts some usage of imagery. Lord Randal’s mother is at the peak of her concerns when noticing that her son has returned lacking his hounds. The terminology ‘bloodhound’ is embraced in the mother’s mention. The imagery associated to the ‘blood’ in bloodhounds and the symbolism in their deaths must not be overlooked. Due to this unsubtle imagery the son’s refrain, which previously only hinted to death, now evolves into a metaphor.

The fifth and final verse is the emotional climax in this poem. The mother’s fear is now a reality, her question now a statement, Lord Randal’s response now a cry. The phrase “I’m sick at the heart” can be seen as both a synecdoche for his affliction and a metaphor for his feelings toward the deep betrayal. Indeed, the use of the term “true love” in line seven has ironic implications, in view of the way his “true love” has treated him. Furthermore, the mother’s quick suspicions hint to her distrust of the girlfriend and Lord Randal’s reluctance to admit the truth, may insinuate some feelings of shame. In conclusion, through the omission of facts and treatment of repetition, the reader senses a large range of emotions and a well-rounded assumption of the relationship between three characters.

what does Ballad mean?

A ballad is a story in a song, usually a narrative song or poem. Any form of story may be told as a ballad, ranging from accounts of historical events to fairy tales in verse form. It is usually with foreshortened alternating four- and three-stress lines ('ballad meter') and simple repeating rhymes, and often with a refrain.

If it is based on political or religious themes, a ballad may then be a version of a hymn. Ballads should not be confused with the ballade, a 14th and 15th century French verse form

a narrative poem in stanzas. Folk ballads are anonymous songs, mostly dating from before 1700, and transmitted orally. They feature refrains, simple stanza forms, and sparse detail . For example.: "Lord Randal "