Understanding Narrative Poetry

What is Narrative Poetry?

Narrative Poems are poems that tell stories. There is a beginning, which introduces
the background to the story, a middle, which tells the action of the event, and an
end, which concludes and summarizes the story.

What are the origins of Narrative Poetry?

Narratives are the oldest form of poetry. Long before there was paper to write on
or ink to write with, long before the invention of the printing press, people often
shared stories as a form of entertainment. These stories were also often used to
relate historical events. In the same way that we spread news through newspapers
today, oral stories were used to spread news of historical events long ago. In order
to help recall details of the events, people began to use rhyme and rhythm to give
their stories a musical quality that would allow the story to be remembered and
recalled much more easily. Think about how much easier it is to remember the
words to a song than it is to recall all of the words of a short story. That is exactly
how narrative poems were originally created.

In what ways are narrative poems similar to short stories?

Narrative poems have many similarities to short stories. For example, short stories
have characters, a setting, a conflict, and a clear beginning, middle and end.
Narrative poems have all of these elements as well. Sometimes there may only be
one character, or there may be many characters. At times, the setting may be
implied rather than obvious, and the conflict may be an internal conflict rather than
external.

How can we analyze narrative poems?

In order to analyze a narrative poem, first read through it with the following
questions in mind:
Who are the characters in the poem?
What are the characters doing, or what is happening?
Why are these events happening?
How are the characters affected by the action or events?
What can be learned from the poem?

Where can we find narrative poetry in our daily lives?

Although narrative poetry is one of the oldest forms of literature,
this does not mean it is no longer prevalent in today’s world. In
fact, any time you turn on a radio, you can hear narrative poetry
on nearly any radio station. The best place to see or hear
narrative poetry today would be in songs. Songs are simply
poems set to music, and the songs that tell stories are narrative
poems set to music.
Read to Understand
The poem “Man upon the Cross” was written by conrado V. Pedrocha. As you
read ”The Man upon The Cross” as an example of a narrative, think about
who the characters are. What does the setting of this poem look like? Why
might Conrado V. Pedrocha consider this a story worth writing a poem
about?

Man Upon the Cross

1 Upon the cross against the hills of the night

2 They nailed the man, and while

3 they speared his breast they made him drink
the bile.
4 He bore the pains alone, alone
5 But in the hallowed darkness saw
6 Sweet Mary’s face upturned in grief below.
7 Tears filmed her eyes, but love
8 chastened the tragic beauty of her face
9 which neither death nor sorrow could erase.
10 He saw and feebly in the silence strove
11 to speak a few remembered words:
12 but now the whispers left his lips
13 like tender birds.
14 His arms were cold and death
15 was in his eyes; the streams
16 of blood were dry upon the whiteness of his
limbs.
17 His breath was like a wounded bird
18 wanting to stay, to stay, bereft
19 now Mary rose and treasuring
20 his sorrow, left.
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Respond, Recall, Analyze, and Interpret

Use the poem, “Man upon the Cross,” to answer the following questions.

1. What is the setting for this poem?

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2. Describe the speaker. What kind of character might he/she be?

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3. In line 3,what does the “ bile” symbolizes for?

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4. In the last stanza, what do you think the mother felt towards the death of his son?

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5. Can you think of similar story or situation as in the poem?

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Apply Through Writing

Think about a sad, funny, interesting or exciting event that has taken place in your life or in the world
around you. Consider three or four main points about the event that a reader would need to know in
order to make sense of your ideas. Now, write a narrative poem with or without lines that rhyme,
using each of the main points as a central idea for each stanza.
Research Application
Use a website on the
Internet such as
Lyrics.com to make a
list of your 10 favorite
songs. Determine
whether the lyrics to
the songs form
narrative poems. If so,
tell what the story of
the song is about. Use
the following chart to
record your answers.
Song Title Narrative Poem? This Song Tells a
(Yes or No) Story About…
One important character in every poem is the speaker – the person, real or imaginary, through
whose mind and heart we experience reality as we read the poem. This may or may not be the
poet. To be safe, assume it is not.

Point of view
• First person – speaking of personal experiences, thoughts, and
insights…saying “I”
• Third person – telling of things pertaining to others…saying “him, her,
them”
o Omniscient – able to see everything including what is in the
hearts and minds of others.
o Limited – insights into only a single characters thoughts and
feelings.
o Objective – only able to describe objective reality, without any
insights into character thoughts or feelings.
• Second person – occasionally the speaker will use “you”

Barter by Sara Teasdale (1920)

What is the point of view of
this poem?

1 Life has loveliness to sell,

2 All beautiful and splendid things,

3 Blue Waves whitened on a cliff,

4 Soaring fire that sways and sings,

5 And children’s faces looking up,How do you know? What

line has the clue?
6 Holding wonder like a cup.

7 Life has loveliness to sell,

8 Music like a curve of gold,

9 Scent of pine trees in the rain,

10 Eyes that love you, arms that hold,

11 And for your spirit’s delight,

12 Holy thoughts that star the night.

13 Spend all you have for loveliness,

14 Buy it and never count the cost;

15 For one white singing hour of peace

16 Count many a year of strife well lost,

17 And for a breath of ecstasy

18 Give all you have been, or could be.

Ways that Characters are revealed:

Words the character says and that other’s say about him
•
Description of the character’s appearance
•
Actions taken by the character
•
Interactions with others
•
Choices the character makes
•
Growth or Development that the character undergoes
•
Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1818)

I met a traveler from an antique land

1 Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
2 Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
3 Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
4 And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
5 Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
6 Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
7 The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
8 And on the pedestal these words appear:
9 “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
10 Look on my words, ye Mighty, and despair!”
11 Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
12 Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
13 The lone and level sands stretch far away

• Identify four characters

• By inserting a quotation from a character who is not the speaker, the poet
can, in effect temporarily change the point of view of a poem. How does
Shelley use this technique to play with the point of view in this poem?

• Retell the information that is conveyed in Ozymandias in prose and in

chronological (time) order from first event to last.

What is Narration?
The act of telling a story, or narrative.
The voice that tells the story is called the narrator.

What is Point of View?

1. First person – example: Your grandmother telling you a
story about her youth. First person pronouns like I, me,
us, our. She is the character in her own story.
2. Third person – example: Your grandmother is telling
you a fairy tale. Third person pronouns like she, he,
his, them. She is telling the story from outside the
action.

How to tell what the point of view is?

1. Is the narrator a character in the story?
st
a. If they take part in the action – 1 person
rd
b. If they are outside – 3 person

Types of narrators
Omniscient – “all knowing” tells about other thoughts and
feelings
1. Limited – knows only what’s in the mind of one major or
minor character
2. Objective – does not discuss the thoughts or feelings of
the characters but reports only what they DO.