I've been told that the art of the balladeer is to get the whole story over in the fewest words possible, this requires a good deal of imagination on the part of the listener. A perfect example of this is "Yangtse River Chanty" that Charley collected and put together. Lord Randal/ Henry my son, from previous correspondance, isn't harmed by just including kids and mother out of the extended family of the poor deceased. We leave verses out, for which we have had our bottoms smacked by some, I understand the argument that, in our examples, it changes the meaning and tone of the songs, well, that is what we set out to do. I don't think it is insulting to the writer but more of exploring how many different emotions can be wrestled from the words and music, and, just as important, it is how we percieve and interpet the song or songs.
My boredom threshold is about three and a half minutes, stretched maybe to four, at which point I glaze over and switch off. I don't think I am peculiar in this because it is possibly a Darwinian duration of most songs (survival of the best fitted!)
In all I think it is fine to leave verses out so long as it makes sense
Peter