Summary of Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Introduction

Robert Browning is a famous English poet.  He has written many poems.  All his poems are in a form of drama.  They narrate a story.  The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a poem, which narrates a story.  Browning wrote this poem for small children.

A Rat Compared with Julius Caesar

            Hamelin is a small town.  It is near river Weser.  It is a beautiful town.  Five hundred years ago, the town faced many problems because of rats.  There were so many rats in the town.  They disturbed every human life.  They lived in men’s hats; they ate cheese and drank soup.  They bit babies in the cradles.  They jumped over women and spoilt their chat.  People got angry with the mayor of the town and complained about the rat menace.  The mayor and his counsel discussed the issue for a long time and they invited a man named Pied Piper.  The Pied Piper had blue eyes.  He wore a long coat, which was half-yellow and half-red.  He said that he had a secret charm and had solved many such menaces in many countries.  The mayor promised the Pied Piper a thousand guilders if he kills all the rats.  The Piper got into the street, pulled out his pipe, and started playing music with it. All kinds of rats followed him, he stopped near river Weser, and every rat fell down and died in the river.  Only one fat rat swam across the river and went into another island.  This rat is like Julius Caesar.  He swam across the river and informed all other rats about the way of the Piper and about his music.  The rat warned other rats to be careful with the Piper.

The Piper Changed his Fashion

            Every family in the town became happy.  The mayor ordered them to shut all the holes and to nail every window and door.  The Piper came to the Mayor and asked for the promised money.  The Mayor said that he would pay only fifty guilders.  He said that all the rats fell into the river and they would not come back.  The Piper got angry at the Mayor’s words.  He once again took out his pipe and started playing a sweet song.  This time all children in the town followed the Piper.  The children danced and followed him happily.  The Piper did not take the children towards the river.  He took them above a mountain.  The Mayor thought that he would stop his music at some point of time and they could take away the kids, but the Piper took away all the children into a cave.

The Lame Boy’s Sorrow

            Everyone went into the mountain except a lame boy.  He could not dance and follow the Piper like others.  The mountain side shut before the boy entered into it.  He was very sad for he was left alone in the town.  He thought that the other boys and girls would have great fun in the unseen land.  They would all enjoy the super land of the Piper.  He was left alone with the elders in the town.  He would not have anyone for his company.  The people in the town were sad because they missed their kids.

The Text in Pied Piper

            The mayor of the town sends people to search for the lost kids.  They search in all directions, but in vain.  They did not recover any of the kids.  All they got is a text – a note, that said the it would be hard to find the lost kids like that of putting a camel in a needle’s eye.  The town people did not get their kids back.  All they were able to do was that they wrote the story of the lost kids in a church window.  They named a street as Pied Piper’s Street for the street that saw the kids for the last time.  They also wrote the date 22^nd July 1376 in memory of the lost kids.

Conclusion

            This poem has a short story in it.  Though it sounds funny it gives the readers a serious message in the final line – “if we have promised them aught, let us keep our promise”.  One should be truthful to their promise.  The mayor promised the Piper some money but does not give him, so the piper takes revenge.  This is a story of crime and punishment.