General Question

Melody12234's avatar

I am looking for a ballad poem that is about 6 to 7 minutes long?

Asked by Melody12234 (101points) September 25th, 2017

I have an assignment to look for either an epic or ballad poem that is 6 to 7 minutes long so that I could memorize and act it out later on. Does anyone have any poems that they think would fit the bill? Thanks!

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

12 Answers

janbb's avatar

Try “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes (corrected by Jeruba.) Very rhythmic and a good story.

Jeruba's avatar

^^ Different Alfred. Alfred Noyes.

The Highwayman.

janbb's avatar

@Jeruba You’re right. I wasn’t 100% sure on that and should have checked it. Corrected now.

rojo's avatar

“The Ballad of Ira Hays” by Peter La Farge.

rojo's avatar

Or how about “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost? Not sure of the time length however but you should be ok.

janbb's avatar

“Mending Wall” is fairly short but “The Death of the Hired Man” by Robert Frost is quite long.

CWOTUS's avatar

Here’s a good one if you fancy a martial tale. (And I didn’t know this except from the Al Stewart song, so thanks for prompting me to find it.)

Muad_Dib's avatar

I agree with The Highwayman.

If you’d like to hear it in music form, Loreena McKennitt performs a version – but she does leave out a few stanzas. Her musical version is a good 15 minutes plus. If you find the full version spoken is too long, you might look into her trimmed down version to make the time limit.

Earthbound_Misfit's avatar

Or you could go for something Australian.

Banjo Patterson’s The Silent Shearer

Or perhaps Henry Lawson’s The Ballad of the Drover.

flutherother's avatar

The Lady of Shalott is a good one. You could cut out a few verses to trim it to length.

Jeruba's avatar

Or—just in case half your classmates also pick the deservedly popular “The Highwayman,” how about this old favorite of mine? A Ballad of Hell. Good dramatic potential, too—especially if you can arrange ahead for a few classmates to help you with the last line.

zenvelo's avatar

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is 6½ minutes. Plus you get to act out Gitche-Gumee.

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.

This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.

Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther