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Narrative poetry

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Narrative poetryis a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written inmeteredverse. Narrative poems do not need to rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be complex. It is normally dramatic, with various characters.[1]Narrative poems include allepic poetry,and the various types of "lay",[2]mostballads,and someidylls,as well as many poems not falling into a distinct type.

Some narrative poetry takes the form of anovel in verse.An example of this isThe Ring and the BookbyRobert Browning.In terms of narrative poetry,romanceis a narrative poem that tells a story ofchivalry.Examples include theRomance of the RoseorTennyson'sIdylls of the King.Although those examples usemedievalandArthurianmaterials, romances may also tell stories fromclassical mythology.Sometimes, these short narratives are collected into interrelated groups, as withChaucer'sThe Canterbury Tales.Sosagasinclude both incidental poetry and the biographies of poets.

Oral tradition

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Theoral traditionis the predecessor of essentially all other modern forms of communication. For thousands of years, cultures passed on their history through oral tradition from generation to generation. Historically, much of poetry has its source in an oral tradition: in more recent times theScotsand Englishballads,the tales ofRobin Hoodpoems all were originally intended forrecitation,rather than reading. In many cultures, there remains a lively tradition of the recitation of traditional tales in verse format. It has been suggested that some of the distinctive features that distinguish poetry fromprose,such asmetre,alliteration,andkennings,at one time served asmemory aidsthat allowed thebardswho recited traditional tales to reconstruct them frommemory.[3]

A narrative poem usually tells a story using a poetic theme. Epics are very vital to narrative poems, although it is thought those narrative poems were created to explain oral traditions. The focus of narrative poetry is often the pros and cons of life.

List of narrative poems

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See also:List of epic poems,Verse novel,andRomance (prose fiction)

Allepic poems,verse romancesandverse novelscan also be thought of as extended narrative poems. Other notable examples of narrative poems include:

See also

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References

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  1. ^Michael Meyer,The Bedford Introduction to Literature,Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005, p2134.
  2. ^Mainly medieval, these include the GermanicHeroic lay,theBreton laiandLai
  3. ^David C. Rubin,Memory in Oral Traditions. The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-out Rhymes(Taco University Press, 1991)
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