“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” Summary

“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” Themes

• 

  Honesty and Trustworthiness

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  Class, Wealth, and Greed

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• 

  The Role of the Artist

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”

• Lines 1-9

  Hamelin Town's in Brunswick,
     By famous Hanover city;
  The river Weser, deep and wide,
  Washes its wall on the southern side;
  A pleasanter spot you never spied;
     But, when begins my ditty,
  Almost five hundred years ago,
  To see the townsfolk suffer so
     From vermin, was a pity.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 10-20

        Rats!
  They fought the dogs, and killed the cats,
     And bit the babies in the cradles,
  And eat the cheeses out of the vats,
     And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles,
  Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
  Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
  And even spoiled the women's chats,
        By drowning their speaking
        With shrieking and squeaking
  In fifty different sharps and flats.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-32

  At last the people in a body
     To the Town Hall came flocking:
  'Tis clear, cried they, our Mayor's a noddy;
     And as for our Corporation — shocking
  To think we buy gowns lined with ermine
  For dolts that can't or won't determine
  What's like to rid us of our vermin!
  Rouse up, Sirs! Give your brains a racking
  To find the remedy we're lacking,
  Or, sure as fate, we'll send you packing!
     At this the Mayor and Corporation
     Quaked with a mighty consternation.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 33-48

  An hour they sate in council,
     At length the Mayor broke silence:
  For a guilder I'd my ermine gown sell;
     I wish I were a mile hence!
  It's easy to bid one rack one's brain —
  I'm sure my poor head aches again
  I've scratched it so, and all in vain.
  Oh for a trap, a trap, a trap!
  Just as he said this, what should hap
  At the chamber door but a gentle tap?
  Bless us, cried the Mayor, what's that?
  (With the Corporation as he sate,
  Looking little though wondrous fat)
  Only a scraping of shoes on the mat?
  Anything like the sound of a rat
  Makes my heart go pit-a-pat!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 49-63

  Come in! — the Mayor cried, looking bigger:
  And in did come the strangest figure!
  His queer long coat from heel to head
  Was half of yellow and half of red;
  And he himself was tall and thin,
  With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,
  And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,
  No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin,
  But lips where smiles went out and in —
  There was no guessing his kith and kin!
  And nobody could enough admire
  The tall man and his quaint attire:
  Quoth one: It's as my great-grandsire,
  Starting up at the Trump of Doom's tone,
  Had walked this way from his painted tombstone!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 64-81

  He advanced to the council-table:
  And, Please your honours, said he, I'm able,
  By means of a secret charm, to draw
  All creatures living beneath the sun,
  That creep, or swim, or fly, or run,
  After me so as you never saw!
  And I chiefly use my charm
  On creatures that do people harm,
  The mole, and toad, and newt, and viper;
  And people call me the Pied Piper.
  (And here they noticed round his neck
  A scarf of red and yellow stripe,
  To match with his coat of the self-same cheque;
  And at the scarf's end hung a pipe;
  And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying
  As if impatient to be playing
  Upon this pipe, as low it dangled
  Over his vesture so old-fangled.)

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 82-91

  Yet, said he, poor piper as I am,
  In Tartary I freed the Cham,
  Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats;
  I eased in Asia the Nizam
  Of a monstrous brood of vampyre-bats:
  And, as for what your brain bewilders,
  If I can rid your town of rats
  Will you give me a thousand guilders?
  One? fifty thousand! — was the exclamation
  Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 92-104

  Into the street the Piper stept,
     Smiling first a little smile,
  As if he knew what magic slept
     In his quiet pipe the while;
  Then, like a musical adept,
  To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled,
  And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled,
  Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled;
  And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered,
  You heard as if an army muttered;
  And the muttering grew to a grumbling;
  And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling;
  And out of the houses the rats came tumbling.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 105-112

  Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats,
  Brown rats, black rats, grey rats, tawny rats,
  Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,
     Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins,
  Cocking tails and pricking whiskers,
     Families by tens and dozens,
  Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives —
  Followed the Piper for their lives.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 113-120

  From street to street he piped advancing,
  And step for step they followed dancing,
  Until they came to the river Weser
  Wherein all plunged and perished
  — Save one who, stout as Julius Caesar,
  Swam across and lived to carry
  (As he the manuscript he cherished)
  To Rat-land home his commentary,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 121-139

  Which was, At the first shrill notes of the pipe,
  I heard a sound as of scraping tripe,
  And putting apples, wondrous ripe,
  Into a cider-press's gripe:
  And a moving away of pickle-tub-boards,
  And a leaving ajar of conserve-cupboards,
  And a drawing the corks of train-oil-flasks,
  And a breaking the hoops of butter-casks;
  And it seemed as if a voice
  (Sweeter than by harp or by psaltery
  Is breathed) called out, Oh rats, rejoice!
  The world is grown to one vast drysaltery!
  So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon,
  Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!
  And just as one bulky sugar-puncheon,
  Ready staved, like a great sun shone
  Glorious scarce an inch before me,
  Just as methought it said, Come, bore me!
  — I found the Weser rolling o'er me.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 140-148

  You should have heard the Hamelin people
  Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple;
  Go, cried the Mayor, and get long poles!
  Poke out the nests and block up the holes!
  Consult with carpenters and builders,
  And leave in our town not even a trace
  Of the rats! — when suddenly up the face
  Of the Piper perked in the market-place,
  With a, First, if you please, my thousand guilders!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 149-160

  A thousand guilders! The Mayor looked blue;
  So did the Corporation too.
  For council dinners made rare havock
  With Claret, Moselle, Vin-de-Grave, Hock;
  And half the money would replenish
  Their cellar's biggest butt with Rhenish.
  To pay this sum to a wandering fellow
  With a gipsy coat of red and yellow!
  Beside, quoth the Mayor with a knowing wink,
  Our business was done at the river's brink;
  We saw with our eyes the vermin sink,
  And what's dead can't come to life, I think.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 161-167

  So, friend, we're not the folks to shrink
  From the duty of giving you something for drink,
  And a matter of money to put in your poke;
  But, as for the guilders, what we spoke
  Of them, as you very well know, was in joke.
  Beside, our losses have made us thrifty;
  A thousand guilders! Come, take fifty!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 168-178, Between Lines 178-179, Lines 179-184

  The Piper's face fell, and he cried,
  No trifling! I can't wait, beside!
  I've promised to visit by dinner time
  Bagdat, and accept the prime
  Of the Head Cook's pottage, all he's rich in,
  For having left, in the Caliph's kitchen,
  Of a nest of scorpions no survivor —
  With him I proved no bargain-driver,
  With you, don't think I'll bate a stiver!
  And folks who put me in a passion
  May find me pipe after another fashion.
  XI.
  How? cried the Mayor, d'ye think I'll brook
  Being worse treated than a Cook?
  Insulted by a lazy ribald
  With idle pipe and vesture piebald?
  You threaten us, fellow? Do your worst,
  Blow your pipe there till you burst!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 185-201

  Once more he stept into the street;
     And to his lips again
  Laid his long pipe of smooth straight cane;
     And ere he blew three notes (such sweet
  Soft notes as yet musician's cunning
     Never gave th' enraptured air)
  There was a rustling, that seem'd like a bustling
  Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling,
  Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
  Little hands clapping, and little tongues chattering,
  And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering,
  Out came the children running.
  All the little boys and girls,
  With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
  And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
  Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after
  The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 202-219

  The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood
  As if they were changed into blocks of wood,
  Unable to move a step, or cry
  To the children merrily skipping by —
  Could only follow with the eye
  That joyous crowd at the Piper's back.
  But how the Mayor was on the rack,
  And the wretched Council's bosoms beat,
  As the Piper turned from the High Street
  To where the Weser rolled its waters
  Right in the way of their sons and daughters!
  However he turned from South to West,
  And to Coppelburg Hill his steps addressed,
  And after him the children pressed;
  Great was the joy in every breast.
  He never can cross that mighty top!
  He's forced to let the piping drop,
  And we shall see our children stop!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 220-225

  When, lo, as they reached the mountain's side,
  A wondrous portal opened wide,
  As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
  And the Piper advanced and the children follow'd,
  And when all were in to the very last,
  The door in the mountain side shut fast.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 226-249

  Did I say, all? No! One was lame,
  And could not dance the whole of the way;
  And in after years, if you would blame
  His sadness, he was used to say, —
  It's dull in our town since my playmates left!
  I can't forget that I'm bereft
  Of all the pleasant sights they see,
  Which the Piper also promised me;
  For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
  Joining the town and just at hand,
  Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew,
  And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
  And every thing was strange and new;
  The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,
  And their dogs outran our fallow deer,
  And honey-bees had lost their stings,
  And horses were born with eagles' wings:
  And just as I felt assured
  My lame foot would be speedily cured,
  The music stopped and I stood still,
  And found myself outside the Hill,
  Left alone against my will,
  To go now limping as before,
  And never hear of that country more!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 250-262

  Alas, alas for Hamelin!
     There came into many a burgher's pate
     A text which says, that Heaven's Gate
     Opes to the Rich at as easy a rate
  As the needle's eye takes a camel in!
  The Mayor sent East, West, North, and South,
  To offer the Piper, by word of mouth,
     Wherever it was men's lot to find him,
  Silver and gold to his heart's content,
  If he'd only return the way he went,
     And bring the children behind him.
  But when they saw 'twas a lost endeavour,
  And Piper and dancers were gone for ever,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 263-282

  They made a decree that lawyers never
     Should think their records dated duly
  If, after the day of the month and year,
  These words did not as well appear,
  "And so long after what happened here
     "On the Twenty-second of July,
  "Thirteen hundred and Seventy-six:"
  And the better in memory to fix
  The place of the Children's last retreat,
  They called it, The Pied Piper's Street —
  Where any one playing on pipe or tabor
  Was sure for the future to lose his labour.
  Nor suffered they Hostelry or Tavern
     To shock with mirth a street so solemn;
  But opposite the place of the cavern
     They wrote the story on a column,
  And on the Great Church Window painted
  The same, to make the world acquainted
  How their children were stolen away;
  And there it stands to this very day.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 283-293

  And I must not omit to say
  That in Transylvania there's a tribe
  Of alien people who ascribe
  The outlandish ways and dress
  On which their neighbours lay such stress
  To their fathers and mothers having risen
  Out of some subterraneous prison
  Into which they were trepanned
  Long time ago in a mighty band
  Out of Hamelin town in Brunswick land,
  But how or why, they don't understand.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 294-297

  So, Willy, let you and me be wipers
  Of scores out with all men — especially pipers:
  And, whether they rid us from rats or from mice,
  If we've promised them aught, let us keep our promise.

  

  

  

  

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“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” Symbols

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  The Pied Piper

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“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Juxtaposition

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Ditty
• Salted sprats
• Noddy
• Corporation
• Ermine
• Dolts
• Like
• Quaked with a mighty consternation
• Sate
• Hence
• Bid one
• Hap
• Wondrous
• Queer
• Swarthy
• Kith and kin
• Admire
• Quaint
• Quoth
• Great-grandsire
• The Trump of Doom's tone
• Pied
• His vesture so old-fangled
• Cham, Nizam
• Adept
• Ere
• Gay
• Friskers
• Wherein
• Gripe
• Pickle-tub-boards
• Conserve-cupboards
• Train-oil-flasks
• Psaltery
• Drysaltery
• Nuncheon
• Sugar-puncheon
• Ready staved
• Bore
• O'er
• Claret, Moselle, Vin-de-Grave, Hock
• Butt
• Rhenish
• Poke
• Trifling
• Pottage
• Bate a stiver
• Passion
• D'ye think I'll brook
• Ribald
• Piebald
• Th' enraptured air
• Justling at pitching and hustling
• Flaxen
• On the rack
• Bosoms
• Fast
• Bereft
• Many a burgher's pate
• Opes
• Tabor
• Suffered
• Hostelry
• Mirth
• Ascribe
• Subterraneous
• Trepanned
• Aught

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” Speaker

“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”

More “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” Resources

• External Resources

  • More on Browning — Find a wealth of Browning resources at the Victorian Web.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Browning's life and work via the British Museum.

  • Dramatic Lyrics — Read more about the important collection in which this poem was published (and see images of this poem's first printing).

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a lively reading of the poem—including a little introduction telling the story of how Browning came to write it.

  • The Poem Illustrated — See images from the edition of the poem illustrated by Kate Greenaway—a version that made the poem into a children's classic.

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