ballad poem lord randall

lord randall

ballad, a folk song or orally transmitted poem telling in a direct and dramatic manner some popular story usually derived from a tragic incident in local history or legend. The story is told simply, impersonally, and often with vivid dialogue. Ballads are normally composed in quatrains with alternating four‐stress and three‐stress lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming (see ballad metre); but some ballads are in coup
some others have six‐line stanzas. Appearing in many parts of Europe in the late Middle Ages, ballads flourished particularly strongly in Scotland from the 15th century onward. Since the 18th century, educated poets outside the folk‐song tradition—notably Coleridge and Goethe— have written imitations of the popular ballad's form and style: Coleridge's ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ (1798) is a celebrated example

Poem Summary

lord randall ballad poem (ANONYMOUS POPET)
Lines 1-4


The first stanza introduces the main character, the nobleman Lord Randal. The listener also learns that he is “handsome” and “young.” His youth suggests that he is susceptible to danger, because he probably lacks worldly experience that would enable him to sense and thwart treachery. Lord Randal’s mother asks him where he has been, and he answers that he has been hunting in the forest; he says he is tired, and he requests that she ready his bed for him because he would like to lie down. In this first stanza, there is no indication of anything out of the ordinary about Lord Randal’s day, but the fact that he has been in the “greenwood,” or forest, carries with it the connotation of adventure and danger.

Lines 5-8

As if she suspects that her son has been doing something other than hunting, Lord Randal’s mother asks him who he met in the forest. He answers that he met his “true love” there and repeats his complaint of tiredness and request that his bed be readied for him. The idea of meeting a sweetheart on a hunting trip raises the first suspicion that something out of the ordinary has happened to Lord Randal.

Lines 9-12

The mother continues her questioning, asking Lord Randal what he received from his sweetheart. He answers that he ate fried eels that she gave him. Once again, Lord Randal concludes his answer with his complaint and request. At this third repetition, it seems more urgent that Lord Randal be given a place to rest.

Lines 13-16

The mother now asks Lord Randal who got his leftover food. He answers her that he gave it to his hunting birds and hounds. (Trained hounds and hawks were used to chase prey and to retrieve it after it was shot.) Lord Randal again complains of his tiredness and asks for his bed to be made ready. At this point, the listener becomes curious about the mother’s line of questioning and also anxious for Lord Randal.

Lines 17-20


Lord Randal’s mother asks him what happened to his hawks and his hounds. He tells her that they became bloated and died, and then, once again, he says that he is tired and wants to lie down. The pieces of the story begin to come together — Lord Randal’s pets died with symptoms of poisoning after eating the same food that Lord Randal ate. His statement that the hunting tired him and his request for a bed, now repeated for the fifth time, suggest his own illness.
6"O I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son!I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man!""O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak my bed soon,For I'm sick at the heart, and fain wad lie down."
Critical Overview

In his collection of essays The Ballad as Song, Bertrand Harris Bronson lists “Lord Randal” as one of the seven most popular ballads in the world. As he puts it, the popularity of this ballad and many others stems from its presentation of “love as a disease from which no one recovers.” Louise Pound discusses the transformation of “Lord Randal” into several American ballads. She points out that it has been sung in all regions of the country, going through transitions that fit it to the culture in which it reappears. For example, in the nineteenth century it was sung in Colorado as a railway camp song about the tragic poisoning of “Johnny Randal” by his sweetheart. Though it has been popular for centuries, the listener never knows why Lord Randal’s “true love” poisons him. In explanation, MacEd-ward Leach discusses “the tendency in the ballad to pass quickly over the first half of the plot — the unstable situation — to come to the second — the solution.” He feels that listeners traditionally accept this lack of background information because they are “the folk [who] are not concerned with why, for they are not introspective or analytical. Rather they are concerned with the drama of the moment and the character’s reaction to it.” Leach reminds the reader that ballads belong to common folk who have kept them alive through the centuries, and these people enjoy the dramatic tension of an immediate encounter, such as this one between Lord Randal and his mother at their last meeting before his death.
Themes
DEATH, Guilt and Innocence
1-Death
The first part of the conversation between the mother and son that comprises “Lord Randal” gradually reveals how Lord Randal comes to be dying prematurely and relates the emotional reaction of the mother to this situation. At the beginning of each stanza, Lord Randal’s mother prompts him with a question, from which she gets a terse reply. The withholding of complete details in her son’s answers prompts the mother to ask another question. The gradual way in which the mother learns of her son’s condition creates a sense of tension in her words — from the very opening lines, “O where ha’ you been, Lord Randal, my son? And where ha’ you been, my handsome young man?” her sense of panic crescendoes until it reaches an apex in the sixth stanza when she exclaims, “O I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son! I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man!” The use of exclamation points in this stanza relates to the reader the mother’s sense of dread as she realizes that her son’s death is imminent.
Likewise, Lord Randal’s responses to his mother’s questions reveal his own reaction to his impending death. His responses, however, are largely open to interpretation. One thing is for certain, though: Lord Randal’s statements are much milder than those of his mother. His repetitive, matter-of-fact responses to his mother’s questions are not what one expects from someone who is dying. It can argued, therefore, that Lord Randal is in shock and in denial of the situation, insofar as he states that he is merely “wearied wi’ huntin.” This implies that Lord Randal is dealing with his death by not acknowledging the fact that he is dying. Notice in the sixth stanza how mild his response is to his mother’s exclamations: “O yes, I am poisoned, mother, mak my bed soon, / For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.” It is as if he has just remembered that he was poisoned. He is of sound enough mind to state his last will and testament to his mother, and yet does not have a frenzied reaction to his own demise.
The common folk of the Middle Ages, especially the high Middle Ages, surrounded the death experience in religious ritual in order to find reassurance and comfort in a life after death. According to Frances and Joseph Gies in their work Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages, “death was immured in ritual, the laments of daughters and daughters-in-law commencing before the stricken peasant expired and continuing until burial,” and that “to the man or woman on the deathbed two things were important: to be surrounded by one’s family and, whatever the ritual, to achieve salvation.” The ideal situation for a death in the Middle Ages was for an individual to anticipate his death, having suffered an illness or debilitating wound. In doing so, the person could ensure the two essential requirements were met. In Lord Randal’s case, however, death has caught him unprepared. This certainly increased the already frightening experience of dying. Due to the lack of detail in the ballad, it is hard to ascertain whether or not Lord Randal was surrounded by any family members other than his mother. However, based on the two-sided conversation, it seems fair to surmise that his sister and brother were not present, and the father is never mentioned in the poem. It is also impossible to determine whether or not Lord Randal received the aid of a member of the clergy in his final moments. However, evidence would suggest that he did not participate in any salvation-producing ritual. Therefore, Lord Randal achieved neither of the desired elements of the ideal death experience. His was a worst-case scenario of dying: unprepared and unsaved. This is one of the key reasons why the ballad “Lord Randal” has remained in existence for so many centuries: it is unnerving, causing one to consider the possibilities of an extremely fearful death experience.

2-Guilt and Innocence

While the themes of guilt and innocence in “Lord Randal” are not as readily apparent as the theme of death, they do exist outside the text of the ballad. These ideas are conjured in the reader’s mind after the ballad has been read. The obvious perpetrator of the crime is the lover; she poisoned Lord Randal and is therefore guilty. The converse theme, coupled with the emotion surrounding his death, leads the reader to view Lord Randal as the victim and, therefore, as innocent. After the initial shock of the story fades, the reader begins to question the events leading to the action depicted in the ballad. However, because no detail is provided by the author, the reader is left to wonder: Why did she poison him? Did they quarrel? Was he unfaithful? The distinction between guilt and innocence begins to fade. If Lord Randal was unfaithful, or if they did argue, then he is not completely innocent; and, some may argue, if she had some cause to poison him, she would not be completely guilty. In crimes of passion, it is often difficult to adequately place blame. The author uses the themes of guilt and innocence in such a way as to create an unanswerable riddle that has persisted through the ages.