The Wife of Usher’s Well
British ballad
Quick Summary
"The Wife of Usher's Well" is a British ballad that centers on the supernatural. The ballad tells the story of a grieving mother who mourns her three sons so intensely that they return to her from the dead as revenants. This theme of the dead returning to the living is a common element in supernatural ballads, highlighting a mystical atmosphere. The ballad is structured using the ballad stanza, a four-line stanza with an ABCB rhyme scheme, as exemplified by its opening lines.12
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