The Ballad of Bala

The Ballad of Bala

Refrain
Knight, savior, hero to people all,
Minerva spoke his deeds.
Faraway lands knew and loved Sire Bala. --Alas
Hale choked on bitter weeds.

I
Dear God, oh God, how can this be?
Misery! The whole world mourns.
O’er Bala looms shade’s horror; Curses barrage
The day the evil fiend was born.

II
Kris was the name of the royal cuck
Always clad in gold mail
Never fighting alongside his men
Attacking instead his ale

III
To jump from his ego to his wits
Would end in certain death
Ambition made up for his dullness
Thirsty for power like Macbeth

IV
The sort of ruler only despised,
Naught done for the people.
A small man in a small man’s world,
Brave Bala was more than his equal.

V
The substitute pales the teacher.
Bala met the people’s heart,
Parrying poverty, carrying them
Through life’s most difficult parts --

VI
And he had no head start. A lea
Cultivates wonders free.
A big man, the people his friends,
His friends treated as family.

VII
Whenever Kris committed a foul crime
Bala sought to mend it
Neglecting his subjects like a cuckoo’s babe
Bala sought to end it

Refrain
Knight, savior, hero to people all
Minerva spoke his deeds
Faraway lands knew and loved Sire Bala --Alas
Hale choked on bitter weeds

VIII
Kris blamed his subjects and he whined,
He whined, and whined, and whined.
They must be hurt, punished! One night
From the light he resigned.

IX
Kris took a troop into the streets.
Men gone, wives gone faster,
Bala saw no stop, his brothers slain,
And Joab killed Abner.

X
For seven days and nights Bala was held
Beat, buffeted, battered
He was tried for treason -- even then
His hope was not shattered

XI
Was he saved? Ask the wicked world.
Their foaming fear uncorked,
Turbulent then calm. Bala died an
Angel pierced by pitchfork.

XII
On that somber day, rain poured down
From the sky’s deep blue face
As if God himself had shed tears
He left Earth without grace

Final Refrain
Knight, savior, hero to people all
Minerva spoke his deeds
Faraway lands knew and loved Sire Bala --Alas
Hale choked on bitter weeds

POEM EXPLANATION

The inspiration for the poem came from 2 very polarizing figures in my life...

Refrain
Minerva (Athena), the Goddess of Wisdom, symbolizes the magnitude of respect for Bala and his wisdom.
“lands knew and loved” is personification of the land, an aspect of nature. Rather than “knew in lands far and wide”, implying the people in those land, this is a more direct tie to nature.
Nathan Hale (1755-1776) was a revolutionary war hero who calmly accepted his fate to be hung, regretting nothing. Thus he chokes. Additionally, the eventual death of Bala will lead to him being buried underground (with weeds). In an imaginary sense, he would be choking on these weeds. Hale is a metaphor for Bala.

I
The ballad starts off in the middle-to-end of things.
Usage of God initiates an expectancy of later biblical allusions.
Deviates from “normal” narrator tone with a question than a loud response “Misery!”.
“The whole world mourns” is both hyperbole and personification, and the first instance of tying people together under one term/phrase in order for a future purpose of relating it to human society.
“shade’s horror”: Shade is an euphemism for the state of death. The phrase is inspired by William Ernest Henley’s poem “Invictus”, in which he quotes “Beyond this place of wrath and tears, Looms but the horror of the shade."

II
The character Kris is used as symbolism in 2 ways
Romantic writers believed that human nature was good, not human society. Because Kris is extremely rich he symbolizes the pinnacle of human society and what is wrong with it.
Kris also personifies the 7 deadly sins. The first line describes Kris as a royal cuck which displays his rampant sexual desires; this is an example of his lust. He wears gold chain mail instead of a more practical steel chainmail showing that he is greedy. He is a prince but he never fights with his men which is an example of sloth. And instead of leading his men in battle, he drinks ale, which displays the sin of gluttony.

III
Quatrain 3 further catalogs the personification of the 7 deadly sins in Kris.
The first line that says Kris would die if he jumped from his ego to his wit is a metaphor for how egotistical and dumb he is. Also, his massive amount of ego embodies the sin of pride.
Kris’s want for more power is compared to Macbeth’s ambition in the simile on line 4.

IV
“A small man in a small man’s world”: A key theme of Romanticism is that people are small in perspective to nature and the world, thus, “a small man’s world”. The flaws and sins of Kris make him a small man even when man is already small, further emphasizing this idea. This also helps build up to Quatrain VI.

V
“The substitute pales the teacher.”: Not like the typical student vs. teacher phrase. The teacher has the normal job, metaphorically Kris who is the prince. The substitute is the one who takes his place, usually in a lesser role. However, Bala is seen to be doing much more and better than Kris does.
“people’s heart”: Rather than people’s hearts, as in normal flow, people’s (singular) heart generalizes human society into one.
“Parrying poverty, carrying” uses similar sounds together. Parrying / poverty and Parrying / carrying.

VI
Saying that he had no head start shows him as someone less obvious, giving the Romantic hero a mysterious air, a typical quality. He has been shown to be bold, leading, just, however, by usual means he likely came from someplace advantageous, allowing him to easily build desirable qualities.
Next, “A lea / Cultivates wonders free”. A lea is a meadow and/or arable land. A meadow, again, is a humble beginning, tying in with the previous bullet. Arable land is cultivated freely, in this case, he is a cultivated a wonder, or someone unusual.
“A big man”: Previously, Kris is described as a small man. Here, Bala is said a big man. This ties in with the previous bullet as this makes him a “wonder” in a world full of small men. (Quatrain IV)

VII
“When Kris commits a foul crime” this line continues the catalog of the 7 deadly sins in Kris, this sin is wrath.
Although this is not explicitly stated in the ballad, Kris’s final sin, envy, is displayed by this desire to be loved by the people like Bala is but when he cannot achieve his goal, he starts taking out his anger on the citizens.

VIII
“he whined” is repetition.
“One night from the light he resigned”: I did not want to say he lost humanity, because that is implying humanity is wholly good, while a later theme is that while human nature is good, human society is not. In order to push that distinction, I use light vs dark. “One night”, done in the darkness in contrast to the usual “one day something happened”, Kris lost his light. Light means the normal world, perhaps heaven, with darkness symbolizing hell or a general depravity.

IX
“his brothers slain,”: Earlier the people are labeled his friends, and his friends labeled his family. Thus, his brothers (and sisters) are being harmed and killed by Kris.
“Joab killed Abner” is a biblical allusion, as Joab kills Abner in vengeance for him killing his brother.

X
“Beat, buffeted, battered” is an example of alliteration and imagery because it shows what Bala went through whilst he was held captive.
In the last line of the quatrain it says that, “his hope was not shattered”, this is because at this point, Bala has faith in God and believes that he will be able to beat the charges and be acquitted.

XI
“wicked world” again generalizes people into a society of sorts, but here it is explicitly described with negativity.
The meaning of these final lines are up for interpretation, but our idea was that after Bala kills Kris, the people he loved so dearly became afraid. In that brief moment, fear of society and the fact they are part of society brings the people into a frenzy. Their “foaming fear uncorked”, like a bottle about to explode. However, a bottle’s initial explosion quickly calms. This meaning is inspired by John Keat’s poem “On the Sea” which gives the sea these qualities, also relating to foaming as word choice.
“Angel pierced by pitchfork”, biblical allusion to a fallen angel falling because he was killed by the devils maliciousness (his weapon is a pitchfork). The turbulent behavior of human society is metaphorically the devil.
This idea of Bala taking out the initial problem before being turned upon is inspired by Samuel Coleridge's “The Ancient Mariner”.

XII
“Sky’s deep blue face” in line 1 is a personification of the sky and it has two meanings because the sky is blue and the color blue describes someone who is feeling sad.
The use of grace in the last line is also an example of double meaning because Bala was left earth through his execution which was not graceful, however, “God himself had shed tears” which shows that he left earth in the favor of god (e.i gracefully).