Narrative Poem

Narrative poems tell stories. They can be long epic stories that fill a book or they can be short stories that fill a page. They can be serious thought-provoking tales, silly fun tales, or something in-between. What you absolutely have to have in a narrative poem, though, is all the elements of a story.

Example:

Big Girl

(introduction)

When I was a little girl
I wanted to show everyone
I was finally a big girl
So I walked beside
Daddy
His legs were longer than
My little, short legs
But I kept up with him to show
I was a big girl

(rising action)

It was hard
And I got tired
But I made sure
My little legs
Kept up with
Daddy's

(climax)

Then, one day
I stopped
And turned around
And saw Mommy
Behind us
She was tired
And it was hard for her to
Keep up with
Daddy and Jeffrey and me
She wasn't as big as us
She was small
Way back there
So, I stopped racing
And trying to show how big I was
And I walked with Mommy

(denouement)

And maybe we were way back
And small
But I felt bigger