Middle English lyrics and ballads

1. poets still used alliterations

2. Metrical characteristics

2.1. French introduced rhymes

2.2. rhymes were written in metrical feet

2.2.1. lines of alternating syllables

3. Medieval lyrics were:

3.1. anonymous

3.2. difficult to date

3.3. re-elaborations of existing themes

3.4. In some there was freshness

3.4.1. a person speaking of his experience

3.4.1.1. Spring song

3.4.1.2. Love lyric

3.4.1.3. Love complaint

3.4.1.4. Religious lyrics

4. Legendary figures (Robin Hood)

5. medieval ballads

5.1. short and anonymous poems and songs

5.1.1. they included tragic events and supernatural elements

5.1.2. some were based on historical events simplified

5.2. Stanzas of four lines

5.2.1. beats

5.2.2. refrains

5.2.3. music

6. the verse preceded the prose

6.1. Poetry was easier to remember in the spoken world

6.2. In Middle Ages no distinction between verse and prose in literary culture

6.2.1. Sermons and scientific discourse