The Pied-Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning

This poem was published in the collection Dramatic Lyrics, 1842. It is a classic children's story told here in Browning's easily accessible rhyming verse. Though many are familiar with the story of a town overrun with rats which are then dispersed by the piper's notes and the subsequent loss of the town's children by the piper as he is not paid by the greedy mayor, there are perhaps less who have read Browning's interpretation. Unlike the stuffy, Romanticized verse that was typical of the 1800s, Browning writes lucid verse that would easily be understood. The poem itself is dedicated to 'W.M the Younger', that is the son of theatre owner and friend of Browning, William McReady.
The dividing up of the poem into stanzas breaks the narrative into episodic chunks, avoiding the long-windedness of other narrative poems such as Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha. Though the story itself may be taken to be allegorical of poor living conditions and authoritative greed, Browning maintains a charm and innocence through his playful and captivating language. The second stanza evokes immediacy with the single word line: 'Rats!' (l.10), this sets the scene for the proceeding narrative:

'They fought the dogs and killed the cats,

And bit the babies in the cradle,

And ate the cheeses out of the vats,

And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles' (ll. 11-14)

This tale of rat infestation could potentially have been a grotesque account of poverty and disease, but instead Browning creates a fairy-tale atmosphere for 'Hamelin's town in Brunswick/ By famous Hanover city'

The mysterious appearance of the piper dressed like a gypsy creates an unlikely hero figure although this is ultimately not his role as he exacts his revenge by kidnapping the town's children after being refused 'the thousand gilder' for ridding the town of rats. Nevertheless, the Pied-Piper of Hamelin serves as both an endearing fairy-tale in simple rhyming verse but also as a profound allegorical text of social injustice.

The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope

The satirist and poet, Alexander Pope wrote the heroi-comical poem, The Rape of the Lock circa. 1712. Just like the satires of  fellow writer Jonathan Swift (Gullivers Travels, Battle of the Books), this poem aims at mocking the grandiloquent narratives of the age. Pope uses a highly literary vocabulary blending archaic language with the language of the period. The poem is divided into five cantos, the traditional format for narrative poems. The stylistic conventions of The Rape of the Lock aside, Pope wishes to satirize the narrative form, this is achieved by the taking of a minor incident and transforming it into a matter for the gods. The poem tells the story of Belinda, a notable belle who is the subject of a man's affection, being totally entranced by her, he cuts off a lock of her hair without her permission ( hence the title, 'The Rape of the Lock). The satire lies in this banal and/or bawdy incident being told in such epic verse. Pope's dramatised tone uses exclamation and lamentation to further the satire, the train of minute sylphs that watch over Belinda warn her to 'beware of man!' (Canto 1, Line. 114).
However, Pope also highlights the fragility of beauty, Belinda losing a lock of her hair affects her deeply;

The meeting points the sacred hair dissever

From the fair head for ever, and for ever!' (Canto 4, line 57-8)

Pope was one of the best satirists of his time and there is lasting influence in his works that is relevant now. The Rape of the Lock represents melodrama and perhaps even vanity that so trivial events can be interpreted as a divine battle. Pope's obscure and classical references may deter some modern readers but it is not necessary to translate every obscurity to still understand the humourous satire of this narrative poem.

The Golden Ass by Apuleius

The Transformations of Lucius Apuleius, which was later renamed The Golden Ass (asinus aureus) by Saint Augustine, describes the protagonist Lucius' transformation from human to donkey form. The novel is full of earthly humour, comparable to the bawdy lyric of Chaucer. I have read the Robert Graves translation of this text and it is written in such down-to-earth prose that the modern reader will undoubtedly pick up on the farcical as well as the allegorical elements of the text.
The crux of the novel is: Apuleius falls in love with a slave girl after staying at a distinguished nobleman's house. He becomes acquainted with her and learns that the nobleman's wife is a witch capable of changing form. Lucius is interested in this magic and tries to change himself into a bird, but instead he mistakenly becomes an ass. A series of far-fetched events then occur, similar to that of Voltaire's Candide. Lucius is sold numerous times as a draught animal, he carries loot for thieves and crops for farmers. Each time he narrowly avoids death from beating or execution. An important part of this novel is Lucius' observations, as an animal he cannot intervene with human affairs but instead he listens and plans his escape from captivity.
It is revealed that the spell that keeps Lucius in the form of a donkey can only be broken by the ingestion of rose petals. Though he tries many times to find these flowers he is pulled away by his masters, this display of futility is deeply engaging and the reader develops sympathy for poor Lucius. The spell is finally broken after Lucius manages to escape his final master. He then beseeches the Egyptian goddess Isis. The goddess appears and breaks the spell, this is the end of the novel.
The Golden Ass is an example of Ovidian transformation, a theme that has captivated literature for centuries. Apuleius' comic tale is both witty and insightful, creating an interesting picture of the ancient slave trade as well as the value of morals and compassion.

The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde

The masterful wit of Oscar Wilde whose aphoristic quotes still remain popular today, is alive and well in this long poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Here, Wilde recounts the horrors of the penal system (something which he had first hand experience from after being imprisoned for homosexual crimes). The poem tells the story of a soldier, Charles Woodridge, who was hanged for killing his wife. Wilde states that ' each man kills the thing he loves', rather than a display of sympathy for criminals, Wilde portrays a pessimistic view of the futility of chasing life's pleasures. The bitter irony of the poem and the resignation of the narrator; 'we did not care: we knew where we were' is somewhat tragic, considering Wilde's fall from society. However, Wilde maintains a strong narrative voice in this poem, describing the thoughts of the prisoners as well as the fate of the condemned man. The description of the 'weeping prison wall' is comparable to the 'thick-ribbed walls' described in Wordsworth's lyrical ballad, The Convict. Similarly, Jacques Rosseau's famous quote, that 'man is everywhere borne in chains' is highly relevant here, the oppression of the prisoners of Reading Gaol is such that there 'souls are in pain'. The condemned man is a figure of utter despair, there is no hope for redemption, the other prisoners are left ' to watch him as he tries to pray'. The comical humour of Wilde's previous work seems trivial to the sobering irony of this poem.
The internal rhymes and differing rhythmic patterns of this poem give a bouncy although somewhat disjointed feel. Each six line stanza feels like another moment waiting in prison, whilst the upbeat rhyme scheme lends a ballad-like feel. Although the poem reads like an upbeat song, the subject matter is grim and rife with despair, this was obviously Wilde's intent to create a bittersweet irony that would both shock the reader with its subject matter and satiate their poetic appetite.

A sample poem from my new collection

I am currently working on a new collection of poems. They will be of a suitably darker nature than my last collection (of which I am currently considering uploading, maybe to this blog or elsewhere), I intend to focus on the Emotional rather than the Cerebral. Thematically, the poems express darkness, isolation and fear. Although I often view these themes as portentous and sentimental, I intend to convey them in an oblique manner so as to avoid being overtly obvious in terms of subject matter. I am also toying with the idea of dividing the collection into two books, one intimate reflections, the other more objective observations.
Nevertheless, I offer here a sample verse from an, as yet, untitled poem:

Now is the season I feel accustomed

To the love I cultivated in winter.

I was bereft of all hope

As I wandered into the autumnal copse

Like the leaves, my heart withered.

Dejected and denied the harvest.

In the coldness, I warmed my spirit

With one vain thought of hope

Now I feel a heat emanating,

Though I know no response to give,

Only to burn until nothing remains

But ashes to been blown in new directions.

The Eclogues and The Georgics by Virgil

Continuing on with my reviews of classical poetry, I stumbled across the ancient Roman poet, Virgil. After reading The Divine Comedy I was intrigued to learn more of Dante's Spiritual Guide, Virgil.
The first point to mention about this poet's work is that any modern translation is only a rough adaptation of the original work due to the age of the text. Still, The Eclogues, a collection of ten pastoral poems prove an interestingly relevant read with their message of turning swords into ploughs. The odd phrasing and imagery of The Eclogues as well as cultural and religious references may throw the reader off at times, but Virgil's rustic narrative is relatively easy-going. The Eclogues are fairly short, only about two pages or so each, however their brevity is compensated by the poetic (and at times didactic) voice of the poet.
The Georgics are comprised of four books, each of about twenty or so pages. Virgil uses a combination of script-based dialogue and prose poetry to create a series of sketches denoting rural life in ancient Rome. The first book asserts Virgil's idea of agriculture over warfare and is summed up by the beautiful lines:

'Right and wrong are confused here,

There's so much war in the world.

Evil has so many faces, the plough so little.'

The second book includes Virgil's advice to farmers on wine, arboreal cultivation, yielding of fruits and the book concludes with a likening of farming to acts of warfare on the earth.

The third book of The Georgics addresses shepherds and horse owners as well as Virgil's warnings about diseases of livestock and the profound effect this has on the farmer.

The final book, and my personal favourite of Virgil's work, describes the maintenance of the beehive. The bees are likened to the Roman people, from the servile drones to the protected queen. Virgil satirises his native country and the notion of dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, sweetness is to be found through the cultivation of honey not through bloodshed or glory. Again Virgil describes diseases which may afflict the bees, only this time the image is extended into a story describing a character called Proteus who is angry at the god Orpheus for the loss of his bees. The story develops as Eurydice, a mythological character is killed by a snake bite. This peculiar narrative is an allegory perhaps for losses and victories experienced not by the soldier but by the farmer. 

Although Virgil's works may seem daunting and obtuse to the modern reader, there are present many socially relevant themes, such as that of subsistence farming and pacifism. As with most classical texts, the reader would be well advised to consult the footnotes and translations in the appendix, however,Virgil for the best part of The Eclogues and The Georgics maintains the common language of man.

Building On Impulse: The Birth of a Poem

I thought it would be worth describing here how I believe poetry is created. Writing itself is an entirely unique craft that cannot be taught by any didactic measures, instead it relies on self-motivation and the desire to express one's own imagination.


As something of an amateur poet, I have devised my own method in which I pen my works (this includes my attempts at prose-fiction). I will describe it here in some detail, though it should not be taken as anything but advisory.


Considering the notion that 'poetry should express emotion but the poet should not feel it', I think it is important that a poem does indeed invoke emotions in the reader but that they are the reader's own emotions not simply an empathetic replication of the poet's. By attaching no sentimental values to their work, a poet avoids cringe-worthy outbursts and melodramatic ramblings, that in all honesty appear adolescent in tone.


The essence of poetry is cerebral, not emotional. A poem stems from single or multiple impulses which meld into thoughts and are translated into words. Emotions, namely self-pity and passion to name but a few, blur the true intention of the poet and their work becomes mired in conflicting emotive/figurative images that ultimately create tedious confusion.


What is needed in the crafting of poetry, in my opinion, is careful construction of thought that arises spontaneously and is nurtured into a poetic form by the discerning eye of the poet.
I will mention the Modernism movement here as I feel that its tendency to be willfully obscure encapsulates the point I am making. James Joyce's Modernist epic, Ulysses, is a prime example of translated thoughts untainted by form or convention and the result is a richly psychological odyssey that is both captivating and baffling. Great poetry requires subtlety, that is certain, so rather than ostentatious odes to wallowing in Goethe-esque sorrow or attempting to mimic the rhapsodic Romantic voice, a poet is better off delving into their own mind and fashioning their own interpretation of art, without fear of pretension. Style is simply the placement of chosen words on a page, it is the reasoning behind style that is the true poetry.


The progression of culture in this present age has led to a generation of trend-chasers, but the poet must be stoic in their own innovations and continually seek to build something out of the fragments of this broken society.

Nautical Poems: The Wreck of the Hesperus by Longfellow vs. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge

So, upon my reading of the Wordsworth/Coleridge collaboration Lyrical Ballads, I felt that I should review what is arguably one of Coleridge best poems; The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Anyone studying GCSE, A-level or degree level English will inevitably stumble across this lengthy narrative poem, and it has been prolifically referenced in culture. A brief synopsis of the poem is that 'the ancient mariner' is recounting his tale to 'a wedding guest', the tale is essentially a voyage the mariner took on his ship wherein the crew became lost but a lone albatross served to guide them to their destination, the mariner gets annoyed by the presence of the bird and shoots it with an arrow. The crew is left lost in the middle of the ocean and the famous lines:

Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink/ 

Water, water everywhere ne a drop to drink 

The poem is characteristic of the despair present in Coleridge's poetry yet there is also a supernatural element that adds a certain charm that is not always present in his fellow poet Wordsworth, whose odes to nature reflected in tranquility lack the action  and intrigue of The Ancient Mariner.

I chose to include here, as a point of comparison, The Wreck of the Hesperus by the American poet, Henry Longfellow. This is also a narrative poem and has an almost identical theme of a captain ignoring advice and thus facing dire consequences. In the poem, the captain of the Hesperus is warned by a crew member to avoid a dangerous current, but the captain is too proud to heed the advice as his daughter is on board. As the ship enters the stormy area the captain ties his daughter to the mast so that she is safe, when the storm settles the ship has been destroyed and all that remains is the captain's daughter left tied to the mast in the'frozen gloom'. Both these poems are about the consequences of ignoring help, both the Ancient Mariner and the captain of the Hesperus were overcome by hubris and agitation which led to their Hamartian fates.

Unlike some other poets of their age (Wordsworth and Whitman, to name but a few), Coleridge and Longfellow write in a very readable style and this is perhaps the reasoning behind their gratuitous use in schools. They are enjoyable tales that are relevant to the present day and their cultural significance makes them necessary reading for any budding poet.