ence of refrains need not "point straight to the singing
and dancing throng." It is not proved that the ballad,
in any sense, came first, or even that choral songs pre-
ceded solos. It is likely enough that choral songs and
solos co-existed from the beginning, or even that solos
preceded, for all that can be certainly known. The as-
sumption that group power to sing, to compose songs, and
to dance, precedes individual power to do these things, ⁵⁸
is fatuously speculative. It rests neither on "overwhelm-
ing evidence" nor on probability. The individual ought
to be able to engage in rhythmic motion, to compose tunes,
and then to evolve words for these tunes, at least as early
as he is able to do these things along with others of his
kind. And let it be said again that it is safer to affirm
that the primitive lyric, whether individual or choral, is not
the ballad but the song -- more strictly, the songlet.

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