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This work deals with the existence of a wide body of ballads in Italy during the romantic era. It disproves Giovanni Berchet's contention in his "Lettera semiseria", the manifesto of Italian Romanticism. He argued that Italy did not have popular literature and, being unaware of an existing tradition, he translated and proposed two of Burger's ballads as examples to be followed. / The first two chapters of this thesis concentrate on the origins of the popular ballad and its first occurrence in Italy. / The third chapter examines the major ballad writers in Italy. Particular attention is given to Luigi Carrer and Giovanni Prati. / The final chapters are a discussion of Italy's minor ballad writers, followed by a conclusion.

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