Introduction to Poetry
Senior 2 · English
Introduction to Poetry
Lesson 4 of 5
25 min
Just as prose can be a novel, a letter or a speech, poetry comes in different types. Some poems tell stories, some pour out feelings, and some let characters speak as if on a stage. Knowing the type helps you know what to look for, and "What type of poem is this? Give a reason." is a common examination question.
These are the first two stanzas of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", a poem from the 1840s by the English poet Robert Browning (1812–1889). It is in the public domain. The full poem tells the story of a German town overrun by rats, and of the strange piper who offers to get rid of them for a fee.
Hamelin Town's in Brunswick,
By famous Hanover city;
The river Weser, deep and wide,
Washes its wall on the southern side;
A pleasanter spot you never spied;
But when begins my ditty,
Almost five hundred years ago,
To see the townsfolk suffer so
From vermin, 'twas a pity.Rats!
They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.
Word help: spied (saw); ditty (a short, simple song or poem); townsfolk (the people of a town); vermin (harmful small animals such as rats); 'twas (it was); vats (large containers); ladles (large spoons for soup); kegs (small barrels); sprats (small fish); sharps and flats (musical notes, here meaning squeaky noises).
This is a narrative poem. It has a narrator ("my ditty"), a setting (Hamelin, by the river Weser, five hundred years ago), a problem (the rats) and, in the full poem, characters and a plot with a beginning, middle and end.
"Up-Hill", collected in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), is by the English poet Christina Rossetti (1830–1894). It is in the public domain. Two voices speak: a traveller asks questions, and a second voice answers.
Up-Hill
Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day's journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.But is there for the night a resting-place?
A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
You cannot miss that inn.Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
Those who have gone before.
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
They will not keep you standing at that door.Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come.
Word help: wind (rhymes with find: to twist and turn); morn (morning); inn (a small hotel for travellers); wayfarers (travellers on foot); travel-sore (aching from travelling); the sum (the total, the result); yea (an old word for yes).
On the surface this is a journey up a long hill. Many readers see a deeper meaning: the road is life, which is hard all the way; the inn at nightfall is the rest at the end of life; and "those who have gone before" are the people who have already finished the journey. A story that carries a second, deeper meaning like this is called an allegory.
| Type | What it does | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Narrative | tells a story, with characters, setting and plot | "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"; ballads |
| Epic | a very long narrative poem about the great deeds of a hero, important to a whole people, in a grand style | Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (ancient Greece); the epic of Sundiata, performed by griots in West Africa |
| Lyric | a short poem expressing the personal feelings and thoughts of one speaker; often musical | "The Wind"; "Sympathy" |
| Dramatic | uses the voices of characters who speak, as in a play; includes dramatic monologues and plays written in verse | "Up-Hill" (two speaking voices); Shakespeare's plays |
Question: What type of poem is "Up-Hill"? Give a reason.
Answer: It has a strong dramatic quality, because it is made entirely of the words of two speakers in dialogue, with no narrator describing them. Like a scene in a play, we learn everything from what the characters say.
Types can overlap. Browning published "The Pied Piper" in a collection he called Dramatic Lyrics, and "Up-Hill" is also short and lyrical. In the examination, choose the type that fits best and justify it with evidence.
Rwandan tradition has examples too: ibyivugo, the heroic self-praise of warriors, share the grand, heroic spirit of epic, and ibisigo tell the history of kings, which is a narrative purpose.
"Up-Hill" is built from questions that begin with an auxiliary verb: Does the road wind ...? Will the day's journey take ...? Shall I meet ...? Is there ...?
To make a yes/no question, put the auxiliary before the subject. If there is no auxiliary, use do / does / did.
Short answers repeat the auxiliary: Does the road wind up-hill? — Yes, it does. Will there be beds? — Yes, there will.
Worked example. Make a question: The piper plays a magic tune. → no auxiliary, present tense, third person → Does the piper play a magic tune? Short answer: Yes, he does.
Rossetti's "May not the darkness hide it...?" is an older form. Today we would say Might the darkness not hide it? or Couldn't the darkness hide it?
In pairs, perform the poem as a dialogue. The traveller should sound tired and anxious, with rising ↗ questions. The guide should sound calm and certain, with falling ↘ answers. Swap roles and notice how the poem changes.
Write a four-line dialogue poem: two lines of questions and two lines of answers. Choose your two voices, for example a student and the national examination, a seedling and the rain, or a child and the moon.
Model by Ganzaa
Will the rain come soon to this thirsty hill?
Yes, by tonight, little seed.
And will you stay till my roots grow still?
As long as your roots have need.
Tip
Four types, four questions: Does it tell a story? (narrative) Is it a huge heroic story? (epic) Is it one voice sharing feelings? (lyric) Do characters speak, as in a play? (dramatic)
Always justify the type with evidence from the poem.
What type of poem is "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"? Give one reason.
Solution: narrative. It tells a story, with a setting (Hamelin, five hundred years ago), a problem (the rats) and characters.
Which type is a very long poem about the deeds of a hero?
Solution: epic, e.g. the Iliad.
Find an example of onomatopoeia (a word that sounds like its meaning) in stanza 2 of "The Pied Piper".
Solution: "shrieking and squeaking". The words imitate the noises of the rats.
Make a yes/no question and short answer: The traveller reaches the inn.
Solution: Does the traveller reach the inn? — Yes, he/she does.
In "Up-Hill", what might the inn stand for? Explain.
Solution: the rest at the end of life. It comes when the "slow dark hours" of night begin, after a whole day's journey, and there is a bed for everyone who comes.
Remember
Sources and credits
