The ballade is particularly associated with French poetry of the 14th and 15th centuries. One of the most notable writers of ballades was François Villon; Geoffrey Chaucer also wrote in the form. It was revivied in the 19th century by English-language poets including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Charles Swinburne.
Also in the 19th century, the title was applied to four short piano pieces by Frederic Chopin. A number of other composers subsequently used the title for similar works.