8 Steps To Write A Narrative Poems
Learn how to write captivating narrative poems in 8 steps. Explore types, characteristics, and examples of this storytelling art form.
Narrative poems are stories told in verse. They've been around for a very long time, even before books were common.
Reading narrative poems is fun because they combine the beauty of poetry with exciting storytelling.
They help us learn about different cultures and times. Many people enjoy reading them out loud because of their rhythm and rhyme.
In a Poetry Foundation survey, 68% of poets said storytelling is key to writing engaging narrative poems.
Let’s explore together how these poems are written and we’ll also see some famous narrative poems.
What are narrative poems?
Narrative poems are like regular stories, but written in verse instead of normal sentences.
These poems have all the parts of a story - characters, a plot, and sometimes even dialogue.
They can be short or long, and they often rhyme, but not always.
Narrative poems tell tales about all sorts of things.
They might be about adventures, love, history, or even funny events.
4 types of narrative poems
Here are the types of narrative poems:
1. Epic
An epic is a long narrative poem about a hero's journey. It often tells of grand adventures and battles.
Epics usually involve gods, monsters, or magical events. They're set in faraway places or long-ago times.
Famous epics include "The Odyssey" by Homer and "Beowulf."
These poems teach us about ancient cultures and values.
Epics are exciting because they're filled with action and larger-than-life characters.
2. Ballad
A ballad is a shorter narrative poem that often tells a person’s story.
It usually has a simple rhythm and rhyme scheme. Ballads were originally meant to be sung or recited.
They often talk about love, tragedy, or heroic deeds. Many ballads have been passed down through generations.
Some well-known ballads are "The Ballad of John Henry" and "Barbara Allen." Ballads are easy to remember and fun to read aloud.
3. Idyll
An idyll is a type of narrative poem that shows a peaceful, rural scene.
It often describes life in the countryside or nature's beauty. Idylls usually have a calm, happy mood.
They might tell stories about shepherds, farmers, or simple country life.
These poems help readers imagine a perfect, quiet world away from busy cities.
A famous example is "The Idylls of the King" by Alfred Tennyson, which tells stories about King Arthur.
4. Lay
A lay is a short narrative poem that was popular in medieval times.
It often tells stories of love and adventure. Lays were usually sung by traveling musicians called minstrels.
They're shorter than epics but longer than most ballads. Lays often mix real history with made-up stories.
The most famous lays are the "Lais of Marie de France," written in the 12th century.
These poems give us a glimpse into medieval life and values.
Narrative poems characteristics
Some important characteristics of narrative poems are:
- Storytelling
Narrative poems tell a story from start to finish. They have a beginning, middle, and end, just like regular stories.
These poems often describe events that happen over time, making readers feel like they're on a journey.
- Characters
These poems have people or animals in them. The characters might be heroes, villains, or everyday folks.
We learn about them through what they say, do, and feel. Sometimes, the poet describes the characters directly.
- Setting
The setting is where and when the story happens. It could be a real place or an imaginary world.
The poet uses words to show the setting, helping readers imagine where the characters are.
- Narrative voice
This is who's telling the story. It might be a character in the poem or someone watching from outside.
The voice can speak directly to the reader or just describe what's happening.
- Structure
Narrative poems can be short or long. They often have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Some use rhyme and rhythm, while others don't. The structure helps the story flow smoothly from start to finish.
- Theme
The theme is the main idea or lesson in the poem. It could be about love, bravery, or growing up.
The theme often becomes clear as the story unfolds, giving readers something to think about.
- Imagery and descriptive language
Poets use clear words to create pictures in readers' minds. They describe how things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel.
This helps readers imagine the story clearly, as if they're watching a movie in their head.
How to write a narrative poem?
Following are the steps to writing a narrative poem:
1. Choose your story
Pick a story you want to tell. It can be something that really happened or something you made.
Think about what makes the story interesting.
Is it exciting, funny, or sad?
You can also get interesting ideas using the narrative poem generator.
Just make sure it's a story you enjoy and want to share with others.
While, your story should have a beginning, middle, and end.
2. Create characters
Think about who's in your story.
- Who is the main character?
- What are they like?
- Are they brave, silly, or smart?
You can also add other characters. Give them names and think about how they look and act.
Your characters will make the story come alive for your readers.
3. Plan the structure
Decide how your story will unfold.
- What happens first?
- What's the most exciting part?
- How does it end?
Make a simple outline of the main events. This will help you organize your thoughts and make sure your story makes sense.
Think about what things should happen in order to make your story interesting.
4. Decide on a structure
Choose how you want your poem to look.
- Will it rhyme or not?
- How many lines will each part have?
You could use short lines for fast parts and longer lines for slower parts.
There are many types of poem structures, like sonnets or ballads. Pick one that fits your story best.
5. Set the scene
Describe where and when your story takes place.
- Is it in a forest, a city, or on a spaceship?
- Is it day or night?
Use words to visualize the story in the reader's mind. Talk about what things look, sound, and smell like.
This helps readers feel like they're really there.
6. Write the poem
Start putting your story into poem form. Use your outline to guide you.
Write about what happens, what characters say and do, and how they feel.
Don't worry if it's not perfect at first. Just get your ideas down. You can make it better later.
However, you can also generate your poem using poem creator.
It will allow you to write your own narrative poem of any length, just on a single prompt.
7. Add poetic elements
Make your poem sound nice by using special poetry tricks.
- You can use rhyme, where words have the same ending sound.
- Try alliteration, where words start with the same sound.
- Use similes to compare things.
These elements make your poem fun to read and listen to.
8. Revise and edit
Read your poem out loud.
- Does it sound good?
- Do all parts of the story make sense?
Fix any parts that don't work well. Check for spelling mistakes.
Ask someone else to read it and give you feedback. Keep working on it until you're happy with how it sounds and tells your story.
Sometimes, writers get carried away when crafting their narrative poems.
What starts as a simple idea can grow into something much bigger!
"Wrote a narrative poem about a dragon"
"Turns out, it was just a really long story about a lizard"
Examples
These are some famous narrative poems:
Narrative poems for kids
1. The Owl and the Pussycat
Poet: Edward Lear
Written in: 1871
I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"
II
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
III
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
Summary
"The Owl and the Pussy-cat" is about an owl and a cat who sail away together, get married with a ring they buy from a pig, and then dance by the light of the moon.
2. The Crocodile
Poet: Lewis Carroll
Written in: 1872
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!
Summary
This poem describes a crocodile making its tail shiny and looking happy as it catches little fish with a smile.
It shows how the crocodile cleverly hunts its prey in a cheerful way.
Short narrative poems
3. The Swing
Poet: Robert Louis Stevenson
Written in: 1885
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
Summary
This poem is about the joy of swinging high up into the air.
The speaker loves the feeling of flying over the ground and seeing everything from above, like the garden, the river, and the countryside.
4. The Daffodils
Poet: William Wordsworth
Written in: 1804
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Summary
The poem describes how the poet felt lonely until he saw a beautiful group of daffodils dancing in the breeze.
The sight of them made him very happy and he remembers it fondly, which continues to bring him joy even when he's alone.
Funny narrative poem
5. The Purple Cow
Poet: Gelett Burgess
Written in: 1895
I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one,
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one!
Summary
This poem talks about never seeing a purple cow and not wanting to be one.
The poet says they would prefer to just see one rather than be a purple cow themselves.
6. The Frog Who Wanted to Be a King
Poet: Shel Silverstein
Written in: 1974
The frogs were living happy as could be
In a wet marsh to which they all were suited;
From every sort of trouble they were free,
And all night long they croaked, and honked, and hooted.
But one fine day a bull-frog said, “The thing
We never had and must have is a king!”
So all the frogs immediately prayed;
“Great Jove,” they chorused from their swampy border,
“Send us a king and he will be obeyed,
A king to bring a rule of Law and Order.”
Jove heard and chuckled. That night in the bog
There fell a long and most impressive Log.
The swamp was silent; nothing breathed. At first
The badly frightened frogs did never once stir;
But gradually some neared and even durst
To touch, aye, even dance upon, the monster.
Whereat they croaked again, “Great Jove, oh hear!
Send us a living king, a king to fear!”
Once more Jove smiled, and sent them down a Stork.
“Long live—!” they croaked. But ere they framed the sentence,
The Stork bent down and, scorning knife or fork,
Swallowed them all, with no time for repentance!
Summary
In this poem, the frogs want a king and ask Jove for one. First, they get a log, which doesn’t satisfy them, and then a stork who eats them all.
The poem shows that sometimes what we wish for might not be what we expect.
Narrative poems about life
7. The Road Not Taken
Poet: Robert Frost
Written in: 1916
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Summary
The poem is about a person who faces a choice between two paths in the woods.
They choose the one less traveled and feel it made a big difference in their life. The poem reflects on how our choices shape our future.
8. A Dream Within a Dream
Poet: Edgar Allan Poe
Written in: 1849
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Summary
In this poem, the speaker reflects on the fleeting nature of life and dreams.
They feel like their experiences and hopes are slipping away, much like grains of sand through their fingers.
The poem questions if everything we experience is just a dream within another dream.
Other famous narratives poems
9. Annabel Lee
Poet: Edgar Allan Poe
Written in: 1849
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Summary
This poem tells the story of a deep and everlasting love between the speaker and Annabel Lee, who lived in a kingdom by the sea.
Despite their strong bond, Annabel Lee was taken away by a chilling wind, and now the speaker dreams of her every night, feeling connected to her even in death.
10. The Night Before Christmas
Poet: Clement Clarke Moore
Written in: 1823
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
Summary
On Christmas Eve, everyone is asleep, and Santa Claus arrives with his sleigh and reindeer.
He quietly fills the stockings with presents and then flies away, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
Writing a narrative poem can be an immersive experience.
Before you know it, your poem might have grown far beyond what you initially planned!
"When you finally finish your narrative poem"
"And realize you've just written a novel in verse"
Conclusion
Writing a narrative poem can be a fun way to tell a story through poetry.
Writing a narrative poem is a great way to share your imagination with others.
You can write about anything you like. With practice, you'll get better at creating exciting narrative poems that others will love to read.
Why not try writing your own narrative poem today? You might surprise yourself with the wonderful story you can tell through poetry.
FAQs
1. What are the key elements of a narrative poem?
Key elements include characters, a plot, a setting, dialogue, and a narrative voice.
2. How is a narrative poem different from a regular poem?
Unlike regular poems that might focus on a single theme or emotion, narrative poems tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
3. How do you structure a narrative poem?
A narrative poem is typically structured with stanzas and can follow a specific rhyme scheme or rhythm, similar to storytelling.
4. Can narrative poems include dialogue?
Yes, narrative poems often include dialogue between characters to advance the story.
5. Are narrative poems always written in verse?
Yes, narrative poems are always written in verse, though they can vary in length and form.
