The Pied Piper of Hamelin

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About this book

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a poem by Robert Browning in fifteen numbered sections, illustrated by Kate Greenaway, in an edition marked first published 1888. It begins with the town of Hamelin in Brunswick, beside the river Weser, almost five hundred years ago, when the townsfolk suffer from rats that eat the cheeses out of the vats, split open the kegs of salted sprats and make nests inside men's Sunday hats.

At last the people come in a body to the Town Hall to tell the Mayor and Corporation that they must find a remedy. The Mayor wishes for a trap, and at that moment there is a gentle tap at the chamber door. In a later section the Mayor offers fifty guilders in place of a thousand to a wandering fellow in a coat of red and yellow, and the Piper's face falls. The final section turns to a Willy and says that a promise made to a piper should be kept.

About the author

Robert Browning

Robert Browning (1812-1889) was an English poet who turned the dramatic monologue into his signature form, letting flawed speakers convict themselves in their own words. Long overshadowed by his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, he was recognized late in life as one of the major Victorians.