Hey there - just a repost of a question I asked last month which sadly managed to sink downwards on the rankings.
I'm hoping that invoking a few flaired users may help my cause here. From a perusal of the flair list, it might fall under /u/ada_love regarding early modern Britain.
I was sidetracked from my studies by an excellent post here involving English Dissenters by /u/Noodlebloom and decided to look up the Fifth Monarchists, and from there the Dissenters more broadly.
I came across a piece of anti-Dissenter work, 'A Catalogue of the severall Sects and Opinions in England and other Nations. With a briefe Rehearsall of their false and dangerous Tenents', which had a very memorably written scheme.
As a taster:
'Anti-Trinitarians.
That dare to search into the Trinity,
And in divine distinctions much to pry:
Christs humane nature they would dare to staine,
As ours by Adams guilt, but all in vaine:
Then let's beware, least diving thus too far,
We leese our love, and much increase sad jar.'
Was this use of rhymes a common device in the broadsheets? Were there other common stylistic elements as well?
Cheers :)
Upfront: my knowledge base here is essentially German and 16th century, but I did a little digging around in 17th century English scholarship for you and, yup, the basics are very often the same. :)
Broadsheets/broadsides, handbills, pamphlets, and other ephemera are better thought of as "formats" than "genres," in all the diversity that that term implies. So you get almanacs, news reports, announcements, prophecies, letters, political denunciations, religious messages, refutations of earlier broadsides and longer texts, &c. In turn, that variety implies a wide range of literary formats--prose, verse, lists, images with short captions, and so on.
But yes, many authors (German and English alike) did turn to rhyming verse, employing all sorts of rhyme schemes. Scholars of English broadsides are more likely to use the term "ballads," whereas German-centric scholarship prefers "poems." Both terms have their pros and cons.
Ballad tends to imply narrative verse, generally a longer and somewhat operatic/dramatic story. As OP's example shows, a character-centric plot is definitely not a necessity for verse broadsides. So poem has more accurate connotations in that sense.
However, with its connection to songs, ballad emphasizes the frequently oral aspect of broadsheets. These were texts whose authors intended/expected to be read aloud. (And, to be fair, "a balade" or your choice of alternate spelling appears in plenty of English titles).
Literacy rates were notoriously low, of course, but also there was the simple means of one type of frequent distribution: hanging them in public places. (Not exclusively by any means, but often enough). Scholars have pointed out that many broadsides, especially verse ones, take a strong "I" first-person narrative voice. They'll narrate a story-genre as if a personal experience, even.
Rhyming verse--or outright singing--makes a text easier to read aloud, easier to listen to, easier to follow. How many song lyrics do you know by heart, after all? And can't you remember a few lines of a song after hearing it once, versus how much can you recite back after hearing a speech? So there's a practical aspect as well as an enjoyment one.
I hope this is a good start on answering your questions!