Ballad: The Cunning Woman

In the bucol­ic lands of Arca­dia, no cou­ple shone with as much hap­pi­ness as Bill and Jane. Their love was untaint­ed by the trou­bles that often befud­dled the soci­ety of their time—financial pan­ics and stock mar­ket crash­es were for­eign to their sim­ple, joy­ous exis­tence. Bill tilled the land, while Jane nur­tured the gar­dens; their days were filled with dance, music, and nature’s cho­rus, encap­su­lat­ed per­fect­ly when Bill ser­e­nad­ed Jane, declar­ing their undy­ing love and mutu­al fond­ness. This idyl­lic pic­ture, how­ev­er, was shad­owed by Jane’s prag­mat­ic con­cern over Bil­l’s appeal if a noble­man were to arrive, imply­ing her affec­tion might waver before a more pres­ti­gious suit­or.

Bill, heart­bro­ken by the thought, found his fears val­i­dat­ed upon learn­ing of Lord de Jacob Pil­laloo’s impend­ing vis­it. Pil­laloo, known for his love of women yet noto­ri­ous for his com­mit­ment aver­sion, sparked pan­ic in Bill for Jane’s fideli­ty and her fear of attract­ing the noble­man’s atten­tion despite her gen­uine love for Bill. She lament­ed her attrac­tive­ness, fear­ing it would inevitably draw Lord Pil­laloo’s affec­tions, pre­fer­ring obscu­ri­ty over the ensu­ing heartache his inter­est might bring. Through this nar­ra­tive, the bal­lad cap­tures the sim­plic­i­ty of true love jux­ta­posed with the com­plex­i­ties intro­duced by soci­etal struc­tures and sta­tus, all while main­tain­ing a tone both whim­si­cal and somber.