BALLAD
Tell me the evening,
tell me the day,
and tell the night
to stay away.
Tell me a story,
tell me a game,
tell me everything
except my name.
Tell me a picture,
tell me a song,
tell me what
went wrong.
Hello Friends,
Today’s balladeer is Julia Vinograd, from Berkeley Street Cannibals: Selected Poems, 1969-1976.
The ballad form pre-dates the written word and is firmly rooted in the oral traditions of storytelling and song. Along with being one of the most ancient, the ballad is also one of the most universal poetic forms: it can be found across almost every language, every country, every culture, and every century — right on through twentieth century Berkeley, California.
April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating by emailing out my own selection of one poem per day for the duration of the month. If you wish to be unsubscribed from this Poem-a-Day email list at any time, please reply to this email with a friendly unsubscribe request (preferably in heroic couplet form). You may also request to add a consenting friend to the list, or even nominate a poem.
To learn more about National Poetry Month, or to subscribe to a more official-like Poem-a-Day list, visit www.poets.org.
Enjoy.
Ellen
“Ballad” by Julia Vinograd was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 25, 2011.
Poet Julia Vinograd were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 20, 2007.