Pope wrote several poems in imitation of both traditional oral ballads and the printed street ballads of more recent centuries. Among these the longest and one of the most effective is one entitled Duke upon Duke: An Excellent New Ballad, To the Tune of Chevy Chase (1720). Pope stated that he was the principal author: that is, “Good part of the ballad on Lechmere and Guise was written by Mr. Pope” (Anecdotes 1: 152). The item achieved considerable popularity at the time of its publication around August 1720, in one case under the deliberately oblique title An Excellent Old Ballad, called Pride will have a Fall, as set forth in the True and Delectable History of the Deadly Strife between the Dukes of …
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Citation: Rogers, Pat. "Duke upon Duke: An Excellent New Ballad, To the Tune of Chevy Chase". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 March 2022 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40722, accessed 21 November 2024.]
