Narrative Poems: ‘Childe Roland’ and ‘The Pied Piper’ by Robert Browning
About this episode
This episode explores Robert Browning's narrative poems 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came' and 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin', analyzing their themes and literary significance.
‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came’ has baffled readers and critics ever since it was published in Men and Women in 1855. It baffled its author, too. It ‘came upon me as a kind of dream’, Browning recalled. ‘I had to write it then and there, and I finished it the same day.’ The result, inspired by a line spoken by Edgar (as Poor Tom) in Act III of King Lear, is a grim, hallucinatory quest poem that exemplifies Browning’s talent for what G.K. Chesterton called ‘the poetry of mean landscapes’. In this episode, Seamus and Mark read Browning’s mysterious poem as a rejection of the resources and consolations established by the Romantics. They then turn to an earlier narrative poem, ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ (1843), in which Browning uses a comical, Byronic tone to tell the story of another prophetic figure. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignupnp Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignupnp Read more in the LRB: Barbara Everett: https://lrb.me/npep901 Matthew…
People in this episode
Hosts: Seamus, Mark
Topics covered
- narrative poetry
- Robert Browning
- literary analysis
- poetic themes
- Romanticism
- hallucinatory quests
Keywords
- Childe Roland
- The Pied Piper
- Robert Browning
- narrative poems
- literary criticism
- poetry analysis
- Romanticism
- G.K. Chesterton
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, King Lear
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