A ballad is the retelling of an historical event, current event or even an everyday
event as an epic and swashbuckling poem that will make us experience a lot of
 emotional charge. A  ballad is telling a story in poetry  format.

Each verse will consist of four lines A ballad usually has a refrain, this is a phrase that is repeated throughout
 the poem. The refrain can place emphases and add to the storytelling of the ballad.

Dinner Time
Oh, woe is me, my dinner’s late

and that will never do.
For when his Lordship comes home from school
his mouth will surely drool

The spuds did burn, and chicken spit
and in truth I tried to run away
‘But no,’ I said, t’would never do
For dinner must be made

Oh, woe is me, my dinner’s late
and that will never do.
For one simply ought to know
how to peel and bake

But all I know is how to read and 
tear strips off the shed. For, in truth
I’d rather be outside,
 playing in the dirt with Fred.

Oh, woe is me my dinner’s late
and that will never do.
I suppose a worm pie might feed this lot
And I can lie here, hiding in the cot.

by Michelle Moloney King

A ballad can be sunny, silly, fun, it can rhyme or not. A ballad can have a refrain, or not. 

Another example –

I Often Contradict Myself