PART A : POETRY - National Adult Literacy Database

Other traditional folk ballads which you may be interested in reading are
“Lord Randal”, “The Griesly Wife”, and “Edward”. Canadian folk ballads include
songs such as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot. Robert
Service wrote poetry based on tales and ballads of the North, including “The
Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”.
The narrative poem tells a story; therefore, the plot of the poem may be
more important than other aspects. The ballad is actually a type of narrative poem,
as is the epic, which is much longer and more elaborate than the ballad. The epic
has as its theme heroic feats of great achievement which shape our tradition and our
history. The Greek poet Homer, who lived about 2,800 years ago wrote two long
epic poems, the Illiad and the Odyssey, about a ten year war between the Greeks
and Trojans.
Exercise III
Following is a list of interesting narrative poems. Try to find a copy of at least one
to read and discuss the story with your instructor. (See the list of Sources at the end
of the unit for suggestions on how to find poems.)
“ The Legend of the Qu’Appelle Valley “ by E. Pauline Johnson
“ Evangeline: A Tale of Acadia “ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“ The Bull Moose “ by Alden Nowlan
“ The Forsaken “ by Duncan Campbell Scott
“ David “ by Earle Birney
“ At the Cedars “ by Duncan Campbell Scott
“ The Lady of Shallott “ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“ ‘ Out, Out’ “ by Robert Frost
15