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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/11225-Narrative-Poetry.html
Poetry: March 02, 2022 Issue [#11225]




 This week: Narrative Poetry
  Edited by: Lilli 🧿 ☕ Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Hi! I'm Lilli and your guest editor for this week's poetry newsletter.

         Grab a cup of coffee and join me...


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Letter from the editor

What defines a narrative poem?

A narrative poem is a longer form of poetry that tells an entire story, with a beginning, middle, and end. Narrative poems contain all of the elements of a fully developed story, including characters, plot, conflict, and resolution.

Narrative poems are distinguished from narrative prose, such as a short story or a novel because they are written in verse and retain poetic devices and characteristics like meter and rhyme. Though some narrative poems may be written in blank verse (that is, in iambic pentameter but with no rhyme), most narrative poetry does retain a formal rhyme scheme such as ABCB, with the second and fourth lines rhyming.

*Quill*There are three basic types of Narrative Poetry
Narrative poems vary in style and have changed over the ages as both language and literary trends have evolved. Some were composed with the intention of being sung and danced to, while others are written to record human history.

*Quill* Epics
Epic poems were composed by ancient Greek poets like Homer and were intended to be recited rather than read. Epics are written in a grandiose style, and tell stories of historical events or legends of cultural importance. One example of an epic poem passing down history is Homer’s The Iliad, which contains a long passage called the Catalogue of Ships. This chapter lists in great detail, and in poetic verse, the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. In a time before written language, this type of detail in a narrative poem worked to pass on historical events to the next generation.

*Quill* Ballads
Ballads derive from the French “chanson ballade,” which were poems set to music and intended for dancing. Because of its strong musical background, ballads are associated with a specific meter: Ballads are typically written with alternating lines of iambic tetrameter (dah-DUM dah-DUM dah-DUM dah-DUM) and iambic trimeter (da DUM da DUM da DUM), with every second and fourth line rhyming. They were most popular in Ireland and Britain starting in the Middle Ages but also gained popularity around Europe and on other continents. Ballads may be relatively short narrative poems, compared to other types of narrative poetry.

*Quill* Arthurian Romances
Arthurian romances derive from twelfth-century France. They are any narrative poetry that tells stories of romance and adventure within the Arthurian court. King Arthur was an English ruler in the fifth and sixth centuries, best known for fighting off the Saxon invasions. According to some scholars, however, Arthur never existed but was instead a fictional character. Historical status aside, King Arthur and his knights are major figures in English and French folklore. Arthurian literature was hugely popular during the Middle Ages and had a resurgence of popularity in the eighteenth century. Different stories focus on Arthur and his wife Guinevere, on the Knights of the Round Table and the search for the Holy Grail, or on any number of side characters associated with the Arthurian court.

Here are some classic examples of Narrative Poetry:

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe  Open in new Window.
One of Poe’s most famous poems is a narrative poem that begins with a man hearing a knock on his door at night. Over the course of 18 stanzas, the narrator, who we learn is mourning the loss of his lover Lenore, descends into madness.

The Ballad of Reading Gaol, by Oscar Wilde  Open in new Window.
This 1897 poem is an example of a narrative ballad. Oscar Wilde wrote the poem after his release from Reading Gaol, where he had been incarcerated. The ballad tells the story of an execution that Wilde had witnessed in jail a year earlier when a prisoner was sentenced to hanging for killing his wife.

The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service  Open in new Window.
This 1907 poem tells the story of Sam McGee, who freezes to death in the Yukon.


Editor's Picks

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#2267380 by Not Available.


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Ricefields  Open in new Window. (ASR)
Rice fields can be intensive labor. I thought of Isaan in Thailand. An old person's view.
#2267314 by Kåre เลียม Enga Author IconMail Icon


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A Centipede went to K-mart Open in new Window. (E)
Poem about a centipede buying shoes. Winning entry Writing 4 kids Contest Jan 22.
#2265227 by lezismore-moreislez Author IconMail Icon


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Mistaken All Week? Open in new Window. (18+)
Each day brings another lousy date for this lady.
#1437081 by Ben Langhinrichs Author IconMail Icon


 
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PAPA JOHN Open in new Window. (E)
Regardless of our age, we were all teenagers when we were with him.
#2265269 by SSpark Author IconMail Icon


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Contemptible Fool... Open in new Window. (ASR)
Proud winner of the yearly Rising Stars North Star Contest Sociopathic Tendencies Revealed
#1740756 by Robin:TheRhymeMaven Author IconMail Icon

 
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