1. Who are the women mentioned in the poem? What are the commonalities found in these women?
The women who are being mentioned in the poem are Lady Flora, Hipparchia, Thais, Echo, Héloise Abeillard, Queen, Queen Blanche, Bertha Broadfoot, Beatrice, Ermengande, Alice and Joan. They are all famous female in the past. Some of them are famous in the literary text (ex. mythology) where they belong. Some of the ladies were being remarkable by their good or positive deeds but we can’t avoid negativity deeds that they did also in the past. The poet used them as instrument or symbolism as to tackle about everything is temporary and we made mistakes in life even you are good as god.
2. What message does the poet convey? How does the poet make his message felt?
The message of the poem that the poet wants to convey is when he died, if he will be remembered as a good poet or bad poet. He point also that death is a natural event that happens in the life of a human even though it is a difficult event, we need to accept it. The ballade is a reminder that earthly beauty is always temporary. Death drains us all of whatever beauty or strength we possess. Also the poet wants to point out that we must not always rely on beauty and perfections because people are not made to be perfect but to be a human with legacy when he/she will die in this world.
3. What does the poet express with the line “But where are the snows of yesteryear?”
The poet wanted to know where the ladies are and where is the beauty that they have but most of them in the real world have been died. Also, it applies to yesteryear's fading white beauties as Villon laments the unpleasant shallowness of life and points to the present-day folly of living. He wants to point out in that line that everything is not forever that there is always an end. Whether people will remembered you as you died as good as god or bad as evil based on the things that you did in this world when you are still alive. So he repeated this line for four times as life is so shallow that even beauty or goodness that you did in this world can be seen by many people but in reality they will remembered the one bad thing that you did, so the poet wants us to be careful on all of our actions in life.
4. What is the relation of the ballade to the life of the author, Francois Villon?
The relationship of the ballade to the life of the author is that he made this ballade because of all his experiences in life. When he was imprisoned, he was thinking or reflecting to make a remarkable literature work that people will remember him as one of the greatest poet or as a criminal when he died. This ballade has great relations to him that everything you do in this world cannot be redone, so we must be careful in all of our actions in life. Life is so short so we must be wise in making decisions as these decisions may affect our future. Also, this ballade is the one of the legacy that Francois Villon wants to bury in the mind of people before he died in this world as a moral to all in making discernment and decisions throughout the life.