"Sir Patrick Spens" and Dudley Randall's "Ballad of Birmingham" both contain the same type of form and content. They both are a narrative ballad. The poems tell a story that can also be sort of a song. When reading "Sir Patrick Spens", it was almost as if it was a ship song that a bunch of drunk sailors or pirates would be singing while riding the seas in their ship. I even started to feel like i was singing it also while reading it. It did however take a few readings in order to understand it but it was really interesting. I found that "Ballard of Birmingham" was simpler to read and more interesting because it was something that happened in our century.
The rhyme scheme is XAXA then XBXB, so every other word in a quatrain rhymes with each other. There are four lines in each stanza which is in both of the poems. They contain the same type of form so in a sense the poems are very much similar in the way they were written, the form, and style that each author chose to write them in. "Sir Patrick Spens" is about this person who was sent by the king and ordered by him to go out to sea in the middle of a huge storm that was very deadly. "Sir Patrick Spens" knew that he was going to die out there at sea but was still loyal to the king.
"Ballard of Birmingham" really touched me. That this little boy wanted to walk in this march four our country, but his mom said to go to the church where it will be a lot safer. Instead, a bomb was dropped at the church where the little boy dies. I was able to connect to this story more than "Sir Patrick Spens" because it easier to read and more understandable. It was from a closer time period so it was more relate able.
Even though these poems are from a different period in life, they contained some very interesting simiarities. I believe that the theme in each poem contained loyalty. "Sir Patrick Spens" was being loyal to the king even though he knew that he was going to die out at sea, he was still faithful to the king who was said to be blood thirsty by "drinking the blood-red wine" in line 2 of the poem. In "Ballad of Birmingham", the boy wanted to be loyal and faithful to two things. He wanted to be faithful to his country and to his mother. They both however die in the end. They also contained ironic endings where the ladies would wait for their men to return from sea even though they knew they were going to die, and the mother waiting for her son to come out of the church. The little boy went inside the church ordered by his mom and he ended up getting killed.
In a way, both the characters fought for their loyalty but in different ways. I also believe that they had loyalty for something that ended up killing them. The king was the one who made the order for him to go out to sea where he was going to die in the storm. The little boy followed his mothers orders to go to the church instead of the march where he ended up facing his death.
By being loyal, they both ended up in a tragic ending.
I really like your post. I agree the Ballard of Birmingham was a lot easier to read. I like how brought up it being more relatable. I think it is easier to connect to because it is history of our country.I also agree that both characters were doing what they felt would be respectable to someone of higher authority. It just turns out that the respect they were show lead to their deaths. Both ends are very sad pictures. See these women from both poems left essentially nothing because they lost their loved ones.
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