The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is about the classic children's fairytale portrayed in verse by Robert Browning. The poem is written in third person, this is uncommon in Browning poems however it does make the poem seem more like a story, another point that makes you believe the piece is meant to be a child's story is the subtitle which happens to be 'A child's story'. Browning uses a lot of rhyming, this I believe is to make the poem seem very child friendly this also creates an almost song like rhythm to the poem. Browning also writes the poem in clear stanzas and notably numbering them, this could be to show the different levels of the poem because it is a linear poem however I believe that the stanzas are meant to represent different chapters in the story which again links back to the subtitle of the poem. 

The poem although written in third person does have a gendered voice, I believe that the narrator of this story is male however their is no clue as to why this is as nowhere in the poem does Browning hint at the gender of the speaker, in this section of the play however Browning does use the voice of the crowd in stanza two and the voice of the council in stanza three. The introduction of the multiple voices creates the feeling that the narrator is omniscient, another point about the narrator is the lack of discourse markers used, this could be to symbolise the fact that the narrator has told this story over and over again.  

The imagery in the poem is very strong and powerful, Browning uses words such as 'fought, bite and shrieking' in stanza two to show the terror of the rats. The clear imagery of the rats instantly makes you sympathies with the town folk this therefore makes there acts later on in the poem even more unmoral. The rats are seen to be the terror of the town however in stanza three it becomes apparent that the main terrors could be the council.

In stanza three Browning introduces us to the council, they are described as being 'old' and 'fat' which shows that they are greedy but Browning also describes the fact that they were wearing 'coats lined with ermine' and also refers to the 'furry civic robe' in line 29 this I think is there so you have the direct connection to the rats. I think what Browning is trying to personify the council as the rats, this does not only foreshadow their fates but you also take pity on the rats. Browning also uses primary color's a lot in this poem however they are mainly used to describe the pied piper who we are introduced to in line 56 ' And in did come the strangest figure! His queer long coat from heel to head, Was half of yellow and half of red' I think the fact that the pied piper is described using these bright color's and is seen as quite an out of this world character because he is seen as a very child friendly figure. Browning also uses a lot of sound imagery as well as visual imagery the use of rhyme in the poem as I said earlier makes the poem sound almost like a song and in line 20 their is a direct musical quotation. Stanza two also creates an illusion of thousands of rats. in line 10 there is just one word 'rats!' however the use of the exclamation mark shows that the amount is just so great that the narrator is just so overwhelmed by the amount.  The very first stanza is written as though it is setting the scene for you, the description is very vivid, allowing the reader to almost picture this magical town of Hamelin.      


This poem at first seems to be a child's story however as the poem continues the older generation may begin to pick up on a subtext, many of Robert Browning's poems seem to be a direct dig at the present period in which Robert is writing in, and i do not think that this poem is any exception.    

 Overall I think the Browning tells the story in The Pied Piper of Hamelin through vivid imagery and through the use of structure and rhyming helps create the feeling of a child's story.