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What Is a Ballade? The 28-Line French Form Explained

A ballade (pronounced bal-LAHD, with the stress on the last syllable) is a strict French fixed form: 28 lines made of three 8-line stanzas plus a 4-line envoi, built on only three rhyme sounds, with the same refrain line closing every stanza and the envoi. Do not confuse it with a ballad — that is the free-flowing story song covered in our guide to the ballad. Think of the ballade as medieval France’s argument machine: a poem that circles one idea three times, then delivers its verdict in a four-line send-off. Below: the rules, the famous "Prince" tradition, and a method for writing your own.

Ballade vs. Ballad: Stop Mixing Them Up

A ballad is a story poem — often anonymous and folk — with no fixed length, usually built from four-line stanzas that narrate an event. A ballade, by contrast, is a courtly French puzzle with a strict line count: three stanzas of eight lines and one envoi of four lines, rhyming on a tight budget with a repeated refrain. If the poem tells a wandering story, it is a ballad; if it makes the same rhymed point three times and signs off with a flourish, it is a ballade. When in doubt, check the math: a real ballade is 28 lines and ends every stanza with the same refrain line.

The Anatomy of a Ballade

Here is the standard architecture, with letters for rhyme sounds and C marking the refrain:

The refrain (C) is identical at the end of every stanza and the envoi — four appearances total. The whole poem leans on three rhyme sounds, so each must be chosen with care. English ballades usually run in iambic tetrameter (8 syllables per line) or iambic pentameter (10 syllables), with every line matching the meter. Here is a complete original 28-line ballade, built exactly to the scheme:

Example: The Letter

I meant to write a month ago,
before the first cold autumn rain
had faded all the garden’s glow;
I swore that I would not complain
about the hours that time would drain,
or mourn the summer going blind —
the words I saved have stayed in vain,
that never quite found you at all.

Now winter stacks its drifts of snow,
and I sit up and write again —
the easy rhymes I used to know
no longer warm me or remain.
The page stays white, the hour grows plain,
and nothing finds me but the wind
that rattles at the windowpane —
that never quite found you at all.

But March arrives, the drifts must go,
and I will not let fear restrain —
the letter that I feared to show
for months had waited, ink and pain.
My doubt was heavier than a chain
of all the fears I left behind,
but spring has come and washed the stain —
that never quite found you at all.

Friend, take this letter — end the strain;
if you read it, be reminded
of all the love I could contain —
that never quite found you at all.

Study the machinery. The refrain closes all four sections word for word, yet means something new each time: the first three returns lament letters never sent; the last — after spring "washed the stain" — reads as triumph, because this letter finally arrives. Only three rhyme families exist in the whole 28 lines: the -o sound (ago, glow, snow, know), the -ain sound (rain, complain, drain, remain, pane, restrain, contain), and the -ind sound (blind, wind, behind, reminded). Every stanza runs ababbcbC; the envoi shrinks to bcbC and turns the poem from brooding to address — the classic ballade ending.

The Refrain Line Is Everything

In a ballade, the refrain is not decoration; it is the thesis. Villon’s most famous ballade asks, in Rossetti’s translation, "But where are the snows of yester-year?" — and each stanza offers another answer: beautiful women, famous heroines, wise scholars. The refrain is the question the poem keeps returning to; the envoi is where the poet lets the question stand. Your refrain line must be worth saying four times, so it usually expresses something the poem cannot resolve — a loss, a warning, a longing. Write it first, then build the rhyme families around it.

The Envoi: A Four-Line Send-Off

The envoi (also spelled envoy, from the French for "sending forth") is the ballade’s signature move — a short stanza, usually four lines, that steps back and addresses someone directly. In medieval France, ballades were competition entries, and the envoi was addressed to the judge: a prince, a patron, or the allegorical "Prince of Love" — Villon addresses "Prince" in exactly this spirit. The envoi rhymes bcbC, ends with the refrain, and lands the poem’s final point.

Modern writers usually retire the "Prince" and address a friend, a lover, or the reader. The address is the point, not the royalty: an envoi turns the poem from meditation to speech.

A Short History of the Ballade

The ballade flowered in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century France. Guillaume de Machaut codified the form, but its greatest master was François Villon (c. 1431 — after 1463), the rogue scholar whose ballades mix learning, poverty, irony, and dread. His Ballade des dames du temps jadis mourns famous women of history and legend, ending every stanza with the refrain "Mais où sont les neiges d’antan?" — "But where are the snows of yester-year?" in Rossetti’s famous translation.

English poets rediscovered the ballade during the Victorian "French forms" revival, alongside the triolet and the rondeau; Andrew Lang and Austin Dobson wrote light, witty ballades, and the form has never left the repertoire. (Chopin’s piano ballades are instrumental pieces — a different tradition.)

Variations on the Form

Once the 28-line ballade feels easy, you can meet its relatives. A double ballade runs six 8-line stanzas before its envoi (52 lines), a version with 10-line stanzas reaches 30 lines, and the chant royal uses five 11-line stanzas plus a 5-line envoi with five rhyme sounds. Ignore these until the standard form feels automatic.

How to Write a Ballade in 6 Steps

Step 1: Choose your refrain line

Write a line of 8 or 10 syllables that states the feeling you want to circle. Say it four times in a row; if it survives, it is your C line.

Step 2: Build three rhyme families

Your refrain’s last word is C and rhymes with nothing else in the poem. The stanzas need two rhyme families: the a-rhyme and the b-rhyme of ababbcbC. List ten words for each family first.

Step 3: Draft three stanzas, one idea each

Give each 8-line stanza a single job: a memory, a scene, an example — Villon’s stanzas each parade a different group of lost ladies. Keep the refrain closing every stanza, from a fresh angle each time.

Step 4: Vary the middle, honor the meter

Only lines 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 of each stanza are truly free — the b-lines and the refrain are pinned by rhyme and repetition. Use that freedom for concrete imagery when your lines run abstract.

Step 5: Write the envoi

Drop the "Prince" and address someone real. In four lines (bcbC), say what the three stanzas circled toward — the verdict you have the courage to give.

Step 6: Read it aloud and check the math

Count lines: 8-8-8-4. Confirm the refrain is word-for-word identical four times and only three rhyme sounds appear. Then read the whole poem aloud twice — it should sound like an argument ending in a gavel.

Common Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a ballade the same as a ballad?

No, despite the confusingly similar names. A ballad is a songlike story poem of no fixed length, often anonymous and folk. A ballade is a strict French fixed form of 28 lines: three 8-line stanzas plus a 4-line envoi, built on three rhymes and one repeated refrain line. The ballade is pronounced bal-LAHD, with the stress on the last syllable.

How many lines are in a ballade?

The standard ballade has 28 lines: three stanzas of 8 lines plus a 4-line envoi, each ending with the same refrain line. Variations exist — a 30-line version with 10-line stanzas and a double ballade with six stanzas.

What is the rhyme scheme of a ballade?

Each 8-line stanza rhymes ababbcbC, where C is the repeated refrain line, and the 4-line envoi rhymes bcbC. The whole poem needs only three rhyme sounds plus the refrain.

What is an envoi in a ballade?

An envoi (also spelled envoy) is the short concluding stanza, usually 4 lines, that sums up the poem and traditionally begins by addressing a Prince or patron. It repeats the refrain as its final line. The word is French for a sending forth.

Why do ballades address a Prince?

Medieval ballades were court poetry, and the final stanza was sent to the judge or patron of a competition — often a prince or the Prince of Love. Modern poets usually drop the Prince and address a friend or reader instead.

Who wrote famous ballades?

François Villon’s 15th-century ballades are the most famous, especially Ballade des dames du temps jadis, whose refrain asks where the snows of yester-year have gone. The Victorian revival brought Rossetti’s translation of Villon and Andrew Lang’s ballades.

Ready to Take the French Challenge?

The ballade is the most demanding of the French forms, but its difficulty is honest: three rhymes, one refrain, four appearances of your best line. Start with a refrain that haunts you, draft the stanzas loosely, and let the envoi say the thing you have been circling. For gentler first steps, try the 8-line triolet or the beginner’s guide before tackling all 28 lines — or let the free poem generator start a draft for you.

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