Pied Piper of Hamelin

Browning’s narrative poem ‘The Pied Piper of Hamlin’ can be viewed as ‘A Child’s Tale’ to a substantial extent because of the mystical and supernatural themes explored in the poem. However others may argue the poem is viewed as an adult’s tale due to elements of political and government satire and religious imagery which occur throughout the poem. ‘The Pied Piper of Hamlin’ can be regarded as a child’s tale as Browning has included this as a subtitle therefore explicitly stating it. This provides children with an idea of comfort as well as familiarity. The rhyming scheme of the poem, makes it sound like a child’s tale as it is continuous and fast paced just how a young child would speak when they’re hyper and excited. The numbered stanzas portray chapters in a book and breaks down the poem in to sections, just how you would break down a situation in to sections for a child to comprehend.
Throughout stanza ten the rhyming scheme continues to be erratic but this conveys the personality of the Pied Piper as an impatient conjurer of dark creatures which lures the attention of children. The monosyllabic word “Rats!” as the first line of stanza two increases the pace of the poem. You could also interpret that the short dramatic tone “Rats!” suggests that of a child as they tend to rush words and sentences when they’re excited. Similarly when babies are first born they say their first word, so the first line could further strengthen the idea of a child’s tale. Furthermore the use of the exclamation mark shows the amount of vermin is so great, the children are overwhelmed by the amount. The story is told in a simple structure for a child to follow with the use of a constant rhythm in order to prevent it from implementing a sinister tone. In traditional children’s stories, there is usually a hero and a villain. In this case, the Piper can be seen as a hero and the greedy politicians can be seen as the villains. It is structured like a children’s story with a distinct