The Gypsy Ballads, verse collection by Federico García Lorca, written between 1924 and 1927 and first published in Spanish in 1928 as Romancero gitano. The collection comprises 18 lyrical poems, 15 of which combine startlingly modern poetic imagery with traditional literary forms; the three remaining poems were classified by Lorca as historical ballads. All 18 poems were written in the traditional ballad metre of eight-syllable lines. Many of the poems were imbued with mythic allusions, Freudian symbolism (green symbolizes sexuality and blue, innocence), and indirect metaphors.