Class - VII [Raintree Coursebook Theme - 6: Tales of Magic and Wonder] The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning

 POEM THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN

Summary

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a popular children’s fairytale that has been retold by Robert Browning in the form of a poem. The story is about town of Hamelin which has a rat problem.   The mayor and the council hire a mysterious piper to get rid of the rats and promise him money. The Piper gets rid of the rats but the town refuses to keep its promise. The Piper decides to take revenge.

The Piper steps into the street and blows three beautiful notes on his pipe. A large crowd of  children comes rushing to the piper’s call. The crowd is loud and noisy—children are pushing and falling on each other; they are clapping and talking and laughing. The scene almost looks like when hens coming running to the sound of food. The children are happy and they go skipping merrily behind the Piper. 

The Mayor and the Council of the town stand frozen when they see their children following the Piper. They are in immense pain as they see the Piper leading the children to the river Weser. They are relieved when the Piper turns from the river and moves towards Koppelberg Hill instead. They think that the Piper will not be able to cross the hill and will be forced to let their children go. This notion is destroyed when a large cave opens up on the mountain-side. The Piper leads the children into this cave and the door closes.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a story with a strong moral about justice and punishment. It works on idea that everything has a price and you must be willing to pay it. The poem is full of movement—the poet makes liberal use of action and sound words to make it come alive. You can see the crowds ‘justling’ and ‘hustling’; you can hear the ‘small feet pattering’ and ‘wooden shoes clattering’. The story is exciting and the poet keeps the reader in tension through the stanzas even though you know exactly how it will end.

 Central Idea:

• The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a narrative poem about a town plagued by rats. When the mayor and townspeople fail to keep their promise to the Piper after he rids the town of rats, the Piper takes revenge by leading the children of Hamelin away.

Themes:

1. Promises and Consequences: The story shows the importance of keeping promises and the consequences of breaking them.
2. Greed and Corruption: The mayor and townspeople's greed leads them to dishonour their agreement with the Piper, causing disaster.
3. Revenge: The Piper’s act of taking the children highlights the theme of revenge when wronged.
4. Power of Music and Magic: The Piper’s magical music represents the power of art and nature to influence and control.

Message: Keeping promises is crucial, and breaking them can have dire consequences.

Underlying Message: Greed and dishonesty can lead to loss and regret, and sometimes, actions taken in revenge are irreversible.

Characters:

1. The Pied Piper: A mysterious, magical figure who uses his music to rid the town of rats and later takes revenge on the townspeople for breaking their promise.
2. The Mayor: The greedy and untrustworthy leader of Hamelin who fails to honor his promise to the Piper.
3. The Townspeople: They represent the collective greed and lack of integrity of the town.
4. The Children of Hamelin: The innocent victims of the town’s broken promise, symbolizing the loss of innocence and the impact of adult actions on children.
   
   Poetic Devices of the Poem 

1. Alliteration: This is when the same consonant sound is repeated at the beginning of words close to each other. It creates a musical quality and rhythm.
   
   Example: "small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering" – The repetition of the "s" and "w" sounds adds a lively, rhythmic feel.

2. Onomatopoeia: Words that mimic the sounds they describe. These help create vivid imagery by appealing to the reader's sense of hearing.
   
   Example: "clattering," "chattering" – These words imitate the sounds of footsteps and noise, making the scene feel more real and active.

3. Rhyme: The repetition of similar sounding endings in words, which creates a pleasing, rhythmic flow.
   
   Example: "merrily after" / "shouting and laughter" – The rhyming words add a joyful, playful tone to the scene.

4. Imagery: Descriptive language that appeals to our senses, helping us visualize scenes or feel emotions.
   
   Example: "rosy cheeks and flaxen curls" – This creates a clear picture of the children, making the scene more vivid and appealing.

5. Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human things or abstract concepts.
   
   Example: "The Mayor was dumb" – The Mayor is described as “dumb,” meaning unable to react or speak, which is a human quality applied to him in this case.

6. Simile: A comparison between two things using "like" or "as."
   
   Example: "like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering" – This compares the children's movement to the scattering of fowls, helping us visualize their excited rush.

7. Repetition: Repeating words or phrases for emphasis or to create a rhythmic effect.
   
   Example: "And after him the children pressed; Great was the joy in every breast." – Repetition here emphasizes the joy and excitement of the children following the Piper.

8. Hyperbole: An exaggeration used for emphasis or effect.
   
   Example: "There was a rustling, that seem'd like a bustling of merry crowds" – The crowd's movement is exaggerated to show how large and active it was.

9. Metaphor: A direct comparison between two things without using "like" or "as."
   
   Example: "The Mayor was on the rack" – This metaphor expresses the Mayor’s emotional distress, comparing his torment to being physically tortured.

10. Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. It creates a harmonious sound and adds to the poem's rhythm.
    
    Example: "merrily skipping" – The repetition of the "i" sound creates a musical effect.

These poetic devices work together to make the poem more engaging, giving it a lively, rhythmic quality that captures the excitement of the scene and emphasizes the emotions of the characters.

A. Comprehension

1. The Piper took revenge on the town of Hamelin because they had broken their promise of paying him for getting rid of the rats in town.

2. The speaker compares the running children to hens in a farm who come running when their food is being given.

3. The Mayor and the Council felt terrible when they saw the children following the piper. They were unable to move or say a word or cry at the horrible sight they were seeing. The Mayor and the Council suffered greatly and were very unhappy with themselves.

4. The Piper took the children into a cave inside Koppelberg Hill.

B. Reference to Context

1. a. All the children in the town of Hamelin were running merrily after the Piper.

 b. The children were feeling great and excited. They had never heard music that wonderful and they were enchanted by it. They clapped and laughed and followed that music to wherever it took them.

 c. Yes, the music was alive and speaking to the children of Hamelin. It put a spell on them. The music was probably promising them great delights like toys and candy and other wonders if they followed the Piper.

2. a. The adult citizens of Hamelin were feeling great joy.

 b. They were happy because the Piper did not take their children to the river as they thought he was doing; he turned towards Koppelberg Hill. The citizens thought that he would never be able to cross the mountain and would be forced to stop piping and let their children go.

c. They did not feel happy for long. A cave opened up in the side of the hill and the piper led the children into that.

C. Think and Answer

1. The Mayor was wrong to break his promise to the Piper. The Piper had done a great service to Hamelin. He had gotten rid of the rats they had been troubled by for so long. The Council and the people of Hamelin should have stood up to the Mayor and asked him to pay the Piper. But the punishment that the Piper gave to the town was too severe. The children were innocent. They need not have been punished for the mistakes their parents made. The Piper could have used his magic to make the town pay instead of taking their children away forever.

2. Action words: rustling, bustling, justling, hustling, pitching, scattering, running, tripping, skipping Sound words: rustling, pattering, clattering, clapping, chattering.

3. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is considered a fantasy poem primarily because of the use of magic by the Piper. The Piper uses his enchanting music to get rid of the rats and steal away the children of Hamelin. The magic is the main element that drives the story. It is magic that allows the Piper to take his revenge. At every step, the citizens of Hamelin have to deal with the unexpected—music that enchants and caves that open up on the sides of mountains. They have to deal with and accept a danger they did not expect, for the crime of cheating the Piper. 

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN POEM

A. Answer in brief.

Who was drawn towards the enchanting musical notes of the Pied Piper? How did they react?

 Ans: The moment the piper started playing the notes in his pipe, all the little children of the town

came out of their house and started going towards him totally mesmerised. They were so thrilled

to listen to the sweet notes that they tapped their feet, clapped their hands and dancing merrily,

followed the piper.

B. Answer in detail.

What was the crime committed by the Mayor and the Council? What happened to the children?

 Ans: There once was a severe rat menace in the town of Hamelin. The piper offered to get rid of the

rats for a reward which the Mayor and the Council promised to pay him. He played an enchanting

tune on his pipe and the rats followed him out of the town and into the river. After getting rid of the

rats, the mayor did not keep his promise and refused to pay him the reward. This angered the piper

and he wanted to take revenge on them.

 Just like the rats, the children too followed the piper’s mesmerising music. He soon reached the

mountain side where there was an entrance for the piper and the children to go in. The moment they

all entered the mountain the door of the entrance closed and the children were all trapped inside.

C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

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

a. Why was the Mayor dumb?

b. What does the poet compare the council to?

c. Where were the children going? Why were the Mayor and the Council not able to stop them?

Ans: a. The Mayor was speechless seeing the crowd of children going after the piper.

 b. The poet compares the Council to blocks of wood.

 c. The children were happily going after the enchanting music played by the piper. The Mayor

and the Council were not able to stop them because it was as if they too were caught in

some kind of spell and were unable to move.

D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)

1. What does the Piper’s interaction with the residents of Hamelin represent?

 Ans: It represents a business relationship. The piper helps the people of Hamelin get rid of the

countless rats that had infested their town.

2. Do you think the piper’s music was magical?

 Ans: Yes, the music seemed to hypnotise the rats and children and seemed to lure them with

imaginary visuals to different places.

 No, there could be a scientific explanation. Like dog whistles, maybe the pipe could emit a

frequency that only rats and children could hear.