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Defining Narrative poetry is poetry that tells a story. Narrative poetry is one of the oldest forms of poetry and predates literacy. It was often used in ancient societies as a means of recording oral history, genealogy, and law because its formal meter and rhyme scheme made it easier to memorize than . Narrative poems are featured in many sacred scriptures, including the , and were the primary method of telling stories before the advent of the and the . It is widely believed that poetry had its origins in song, and many ancient epics, including those of , and many medieval were originally sung or recited to musical accompaniment.

The following are characteristics of narrative poetry:

•Narrative poetry contains many of the same literary conventions found in and short stories including plot, characterization, setting, conflict, tone, symbolism, dialogue, etc.

•In narrative poetry, the poet is neither the narrator nor a character in the story. The narrative is told from the point of view of a main character, a witness to the events in the story, or a person who is retelling a story he or she heard from another person.

•Like other forms of poetry, narrative poetry makes use of imagery, figurative language, and sound patterns.

• Like other , narrative poems usually begin with an exposition describing the main characters or the setting.

•With the exception of epic poems, narrative poetry tells a story in a more condensed manner than prose.

•The main purpose of narrative poetry is to entertain, not to express the poet's thoughts or feelings.

•Narrative poems can be fictional or nonfictional. While the majority of narrative poems tell fictional stories, narrative poetry can also be used to relate historical or biographical events.

Types of Narrative Poetry Narrative poems come in three main forms. These include:

1)Ballads A can be described as “a simple tale told in simple verse." Ballads contain a simple meter and rhyme scheme and can easily be put to music. In fact, most ballads are meant to be sung. The language itself is also simple, consisting of mostly nonfigurative language and dialogue. Ballads are traditionally composed in a series of four-line stanzas, or quatrains, and may include a repetitive refrain. They usually concentrate on one dramatic event, focusing on action and characters with little attention to setting and detail. Many ballads contain a moral or lesson. Examples of ballads include “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by .

2)Epics An epic is a long narrative poem that deals with heroic or mythical events. Gods or supernatural beings are often alluded to or included as characters in epic poems. Many ancient epics were part of an , serving as ways of passing down stories, historical accounts, and religious beliefs. Examples of epic poems include The by Homer and The Inferno by Dante.

3)Straightforward Narratives These include poems that tell a story but are not considered ballads or epics. Examples include “” by and “The Eve of St. Agnes” by .

Distinctions between Narrative Poetry and Other Forms of Poetry It is important for students to be able to distinguish between narrative poetry and other forms of poetry. Just as they need to be familiar with the characteristics of narrative poetry, they also need to know what narrative poetry is not. The two other main forms of poetry are dramatic poetry and . While narrative poetry does share some characteristics with dramatic and lyric poetry, there are important differences between narrative poetry and these other forms.

1)Dramatic Poetry In narrative poetry, the story is told from the point of view of a narrator, and this narrator can be either an outside party or a character in the story. Dramatic poetry, on the other hand, uses the characters' own words to describe the action or reveal a situation without input from a narrator. Dramatic poetry includes plays written in verse, such as the plays of Shakespeare. Another kind of dramatic poetry is the dramatic monologue. An example of a dramatic monologue is 's “My Last Duchess” which begins: That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands. Will 't please you sit and look at her?

Unlike most narrative poems, the dramatic poem begins with the character's own words. It does not contain any exposition provided by a narrator, as in a narrative poem. This can be compared with the opening lines of Edgar Allan Poe's narrative poem “Annabel Lee”:

It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.

This poem begins with an exposition by the narrator, revealing the setting of the story (“many and many a year ago, / In a kingdom by the sea,”) and introduces one of the main characters in the story, Annabel Lee. Note that the narrator himself is a main character in the story, which is one of the aforementioned characteristics of narrative poetry.

2)Lyric Poetry While the main function of narrative poetry is to entertain through story telling, the purpose of lyric poetry is to express the poet's personal thoughts and feelings. It is not written from the point of view of a narrator but from the perspective of the poet or a persona created by the poet. An example of a lyric poem is “My Heart Leaps Up,” by : My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.

In this poem, the “I” is Wordsworth himself and the poem expresses his personal feelings. There is no plot or storyline in this poem as there would be in a narrative poem.

It is important that students understand the distinctions between these forms of poetry before attempting to analyze and write narrative poems. The writing of narrative verse has decreased greatly since the advent of the novel and the short story, and much of today's poetry tends to be lyric poetry. Students themselves, if asked to write poems, would likely veer towards lyric verse since this is the kind of poetry with which they are most likely familiar. By using a genre approach, we show students that they have multiple genres to choose from when writing a poem.