Ballad of Birmingham (Style)

Style

“Ballad of Birmingham” follows the metrical structure of a traditional folk ballad. Ballads utilize the ballad stanza which consists of four lines that rhyme in an abcb rhyme scheme. In other words, in each stanza, the second and fourth lines rhyme, while the first and third lines do not. The metrical, rhythmical pattern of the ballad decides how many syllables will be stressed in each of those four lines; the first and third lines of each stanza will contain four emphasized syllabic stresses, while the second and fourth will each contain three. When working with metrical forms (something Randall was particularly fond of), the challenge for the poet becomes how to vary the format ever so slightly so as to add rhythmic tension to the piece or, in Randall’s case, a heightened sense of music. In “Ballad of Birmingham,” Randall generally maintains the three- and four-stress line pattern of the traditional folk ballad stanza, but he does vary the total number of syllables from line to line. Reading the poem aloud makes it clear that there is a fairly regulated pattern of stresses at work in the poem, but extra unstressed syllables before and between the more clearly accented ones can allow for a sound not unlike a musical trill. For instance, the first two syllables in line 6 trip over the tongue to get us to the most important syllables and words in that line: “for the” are both unstressed syllables, while “dogs,” “fierce,” and “wild” carry the three central stresses of the line. By using accented syllables in this way, Randall underlines the importance of select words in the poem by rhythmically directing the reader to give them extra emphasis when the poem is read aloud. But, by altering the number of overall beats per line, Randall actually gives “Ballad of Birmingham” a fuller musical tone.

Repeating lines or refrains also appear as stock features in ballads, and “Ballad of Birmingham” offers such repetition in two forms. First of all, the stanzas that document the mother and daughter’s question-and-answer session quickly construct a formula to be followed, so that we can predict what is likely to come next in this conversation between the two; we know that the daughter will ask to go march, give a reason why she should be allowed, and that the mother will say no. The form that “no” will take appears as the poem’s only real refrain and is its second instance of repetition: “No, baby, no, you may not go,” the mother says each time her daughter poses the question. The poem’s closing line recalls this refrain, echoing the mother’s command in her own confused final question as she, who has told her child she can’t go to march and place herself in danger, now hopelessly wonders where indeed her child has gone.