10 Examples of Narrative Poems

The narrative poems are those who tell a story in the form of verse. Its extension and level of complexity vary depending on the author and his work. For example: The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

like the novel or the tale, the works belonging to the poetic narrative have an argument, dialogues, characters and a setting in which the narrated events take place, but, unlike these two literary genres, narrative poems are endowed with rhyme and metrics.

Generally, narrative poems have only one storyteller that explains the facts and gives rise to other characters in the story. Among the narrative poems are the epic poetry, the songs of deed, the ballad and the romances arthurians The epics written in verses are also narrative poems.

To keep in mind: Narrative poetry should not be confused with poetry. dramatic poetry wave lyric poetry, because each one has particular characteristics and functions. Narrative poems emphasize plot and story arc (chronology of events), while lyric poems emphasize self-expression and dramatic poems are usually theatrical productions, usually with many speakers different. However, it is usual that the distinction between these genres is confused since the same authors intertwine elements of one and another type of poetry.

• Follow with: types of poetry

Characteristics of narrative poems

• They are written in verse and, as such, they are endowed with rhyme and meter.
• They have a poetic subject that acts as a narrator, who recounts the events of the story that is being told.
• They have a plot, with an introduction where the conflict is presented, a climax and a denouement.
• They use a kind of figurative language, sensory images and a specific diction.
• They use poetic figures (metaphors, similes, alliterations, repetitions).
• They were conceived to be recited orally and their metrics helped to remember the facts in order to repeat them and keep them in the cultural imagination of a community.

Narrative poems in the oral tradition

Narrative poems are the oldest form of literature, since their origin is found in pre-literate societies of oral tradition.

The first known literary works are part of narrative poetry. For example:the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad and The odyssey of Homer, and the epic Mahabharata Attributed to legendary writer Viasa.

Medieval and Renaissance poets continued to promulgate this poetic style until Romanticism, with works such as the canterbury tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and The Divine Comedy by Dante Allighieri.

In modern times, narrative poems are often found in some songs that tell stories and in children's literature, whose authors often use poetry to narrate.

examples of narrative poems

1. fragment of Sing of Mío Cid (c. 1200).

1)
El Cid summons his vassals; they go into exile with him.
Farewell from the Cid to Vivar.
He sent for all his relatives and vassals, and told them how the king had commanded him to leave.
of all his lands and he did not give him more than nine days and that he wanted to know who
of them wanted to go with him and who to stay.
To those who come with me, may God give them a very good payment;
I also want to leave those who are happy.
Álvar Fáñez then spoke, del Cid was a first cousin:
«With you we will go, Cid, through wastelands and towns;
We will not miss you while we are healthy,
and we will spend our mules and horses with you
and all our money and cloth dresses,
we will always want to serve you as loyal vassals.”
They all gave approval to what Don Álvaro said.
Much that the Cid appreciates what they spoke.
El Cid leaves Vivar, he is headed for Burgos,
there he leaves his palaces barren and disinherited.
The eyes of Mío Cid are crying a lot;
backwards he turns his eyes and kept looking at them.
He saw how the doors were open and without locks,
empty are the hangers neither with skins nor with cloaks,
without falcons to hunt and without molted goshawks.
And he spoke, as he always speaks, so fair so measured:
«Blessed are you, my God, Father who art on high!
My wicked enemies have plotted this against me."

1. fragment of The gaucho Martin Fierro (1872), by José Hernández.

II

I had my pay in a while
children, property and wife,
but I started to suffer
they threw me at the border
And what was he going to find when he returned!
I only found the lid.

Sosegao lived on my ranch
like the bird in its nest;
there my dear children
They were growing next to me...
Only the wretch remains
lament the good lost.

My gala in the grocery stores
It was, when there were more people,
get half hot,
Well, when I dot I find myself
I get coplas from inside
like spring water.

Singing he was once
in great fun;
and he seized the opportunity
as the Justice of the Peace wanted.
She introduced herself, and there no more
he made a pile-up.

They played the most matreros
and they managed to escape.
I didn't want to shoot
I am meek and there was no reason;
I stayed very calm
and so I let myself be caught.

1. fragment of The Raven (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe.

Although my soul burned inside I returned to my chambers
but soon that scratching sounded more persistent.
This time whoever is calling has knocked on my window;
I will see what it is about, what mystery will be behind it.
If my heart is stilled I can unravel it.
It's the wind and nothing else!"

But when I opened the blind she slipped through the window,
waving plumage, a very solemn and ancient raven.
Without compliment or consideration, without stopping for a moment,
With a stiff and grave air, she went to perch on my portal,
in a pale bust of Pallas over the threshold;
he went, settled and nothing more.

This black and grim bird touched, with her grave air,
in smiling strangeness my gray solemnity.
"That shaven headdress," I told him, "doesn't prevent you from being
Bold, old raven banished from the nether blackness;
what is your gloomy name in the infernal abyss?»
He said to the raven: «Never again».

1. fragment of The rape of Lucrecia (1594),by William Shakespeare.

Maybe flaunt the beautiful Lucrecia,
she suggested this infamous, king's first son,
that by our senses, he tempts the heart.
Or maybe it was the envy of such a valuable garment,
that without equal defied all weighting,
the one that she stung in his mind and a subject will enjoy
of a lot so golden, that for himself he wanted.

But whatever it was, his daring thought,
she instigated him with haste and without reason
Of honor or lineage, of affairs or friendship,
forgetting all, she sped away,
to put out the ember that burned in the liver.
Oh false burning wrapped in icy sorrow,
withered spring that never grows old!

When she came to Colatio, this perfidious nobleman,
He was very well received by the Roman lady,
in whose face they fought, virtues and beauty
Which of the two would have the better reputation?
When praising virtue the other blushed
and if this she bragged about the blush, out of spite,
virtue erased it with the paleness of the moon.

1. fragment of Song of the Nibelungs (c. 1220 – 1250).

FIRST ADVENTURE: What Kriemhilde dreamed of.

Many wonderful things are told in the sagas of ancient times,
Of laudable heroes of great recklessness,
Of joy and parties, of tears and regrets.
Of the fight of brave heroes now you will hear marvels narrated.

Grew up in Burgundy such a noble girl
That in all countries there could not be any more beautiful.
Kriemhild was called and she became a very beautiful woman.
For her many knights lost their lives and her body.

Loving the very noble did not bring shame to anyone;
Many heroes wanted her, no one wanted her.
Exceedingly beautiful was the noble girl.
The courtly manners of the maiden would have been an adornment to all women.

1. fragment of Beowulf (c. 750 AD c.).

A Danish warrior leads Beowulf to the Hérot.
The Danish lookout who on top of a cliff
the coast guarded well he could see
who came down from the ship equipped with mail
and shining shields. desire felt
to know at once which troop that was.
The warrior of Ródgar ready to the shore
she ran on his horse; brandished with force
in his hand the spear. Thus he spoke to them:
"Say who you are, oh equipped people
with weapons of war than in a tall ship,
the waves plowing through the seas,
you got here for a very long time
I have guarded the coast, I have surveyed the waters,
caring than ever danish land
attacked was seen by enemy ship.
More than any of you came here
in a spirited way, though little do you know
if he will receive and accept you in his land
the skildinga people. he is among you
the strongest man, equipped warrior,
I have ever seen: he is not a mere vassal
-His weapons adorn him-if he is not lying
his dignified appearance. now i want to know
what kind of people do you come from, do not go past
like cunning spies, moving on
to Danish land. Listen, foreigners!
oh people of the sea! listen listen
my sincere advice: much is convenient for you
tell instantly where you come from!”.

1. fragment of the captive (1837), by Esteban Echeverria.

There she is she; silent she,
like a timid maiden,
she kisses her half-open mouth,
what if she doubts it's her turn
to see if she is still breathing.
Then the ties
that his meats gnaw hard,
cut, cut quickly
with his obedient dagger,
dyed in common blood.

Brian wakes up; her strong soul,
already satisfied with her luck,
he is not disturbed, nor is he confused;
little by little she gets up,
look serene, and think you see
a murderer: they set fire
her angry eyes; but then
she feels free, and calms down,
and she says: are you some soul
What can and should I want?

Are you a wandering spirit,
good angel, or hesitant
part of my fantasy?
-My common name is Maria,
I am your guardian angel;
and while she gains strength,
drunk the fierce revenge
from the barbarians, safe,
in that dark night,
Watching by your side I am:
nothing fears your anguish.-

And she, alienated, she throws herself
of hers dear of her in her arms,
gives her a thousand kisses and hugs,
repeating: -Brian, Brian.-
The heroic soul of the warrior
feel the flattering joy
for their aching limbs
run, and that your senses
They are free of illusion.

1. fragment of Hiawatha's song (1855) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

There in the Muskoday, the meadow, among mosses and ferns,
among the lilies, in the light of the moon and the stars,
Nokomis gave birth to a daughter.
And he called her Wenonah,
because she was the firstborn of her daughters. (…)

And Nokomis warned him,
repeating it often:
"Beware of Mudjekeewis,
the West Wind!
Don't listen to her words!
Don't lie down on the meadow,
do not lean among the lilies,
lest the West Wind come and hurt you!"

But she ignored the warning,
she ignored those wise words.
And the West Wind came in the evening, (...)
And she found fair Wenonah,
lying there among the lilies.
And he wooed her with her sweet words,
with her soft caresses,
Until she sorrowfully gave birth to a son,
a child of love and pain.

Thus Hiawatha was born,
thus the prodigious child was born.
But the daughter of Nokomis,
Hiawatha's sweet mother,
died of grief, abandoned 
by the West Wind, false and disloyal,
by the ruthless Mudjekeewis.

1. fragment of The Ballad of the Weaver's Harp (1922), by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

"Son," said my mother,
"When she was knee high,
you need clothes that cover you,
and I don't even have a rag”.
"There is nothing in the house,
to make boy's pants,
nor scissors to cut the fabric,
nor thread to sew”.
"There is nothing in the house
Just a loaf of rye,
And a harp with a woman's head
Nobody is going to buy."
And she began to cry.
That was in early fall.

When the end of autumn came,
"Son," she said,
"Looking at you makes your mother's blood creep,
Small and thin shoulder blades 
stuck through your clothes!
And where you'll get a jacket, God only knows."
"It's lucky for me, boy,
that your dad is in the field,
And she can't see the way 
in which she let her son walk from her! ».

And she made a strange sound.
That was late fall.

1. fragment of Red's Autobiography (1998), by Anne Carson.

II. EACH
Like honey is the dream of the just.
As a child Geryon loved to sleep but even more
I loved waking up.
She was running outside in her pajamas.
Harsh morning winds hurled bolts of life against
the sky each one so blue
that she could create her own world.
The word each it blew towards him and shattered in the wind. geryon
there was always
had this problem: a word like each,
when she stared at her, she would dismount into loose letters and run away.
There was a space for its meaning, but blank.
The letters themselves could appear hanging from branches or from
furniture in the area.
what does it mean each?
Geryon had asked her mother. She never lied to him.
Once she revealed the meaning
it remained.
She answered: each she is like you and your brother that each have
his own room.
She wrapped herself in this strong word each.
He spelled it out on the school blackboard (perfectly) with a
smooth piece of red chalk.

Interactive exercise to practice

Follow with:

• Narrative genre
• short plays
• types of literature

References

• Meyer, M. (2005). The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford, St. Martin's.
• Addison, C. (2009). «The novel in verse as a genre: Contradiction or hybrid?». Style. Vol. 43, No. 4, p. 539–62.
• "Poetic Narrative" in Wikipedia.
• "What is narrative poetry?" in Storyboard That.
• “What is narrative poetry? Definition and examples” in MDJC.