The Pied Piper of Limerick, poem by Sue Barnard (Mythic Poetry Series)

THE PIED PIPER OF LIMERICK
by Sue Barnard

A small town in a faraway nation
had a terrible rat infestation,
about which the mayor
appeared not to care
(to the townspeople’s rage and frustration).

The plague had become so acute
that the townsfolk were quite resolute:
“We must do something here!”
Then who should appear
but a man in a weird coloured suit.

“I see you’ve a problem,” said he.
“Now listen: if I guarantee
to dispose of your rats,
give me one thousand crowns. That’s
my fee.” Said the mayor, “I agree.”

The stranger, with fingers a-quiver,
piped a tune which made all the folk shiver.
But the hypnotic air
made the rats leave their lair
and leap to their deaths in the river.

Oh, great was the joy in the town!
Then the piper said “My thousand crowns?”
When the mayor, looking shifty,
just offered him fifty,
the piper’s smile turned to a frown.

He glared, strode out into the square,
and, raising his pipe in the air,
played another refrain.
The town’s children came
and followed him – Heaven knows where.

The mayor’s desperate pleas went in vain,
for the children were ne’er seen again.
So the lesson inferred
is “You must keep your word”
and to think otherwise is insane!

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:  This is a condensed retelling, in limerick form, of the poem “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” by Robert Browning (the original text can be read here). The poem itself is based on a medieval legend, details of which can be found here. I was inspired to write this after seeing T.S. Eliot’s epic work “The Waste Land” being given the same treatment by the wonderful Wendy Cope. Here’s her version.

IMAGE: “Pied Piper” by David Chestnutt. Prints available at fineartamerica.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sue Barnard is a novelist, an award-winning poet, and a member of the editorial team of Crooked Cat Publishing. She has a mind which is sufficiently warped as to be capable of compiling questions for BBC Radio 4’s fiendishly difficult Round Britain Quiz – an attribute which once caused one of her sons to describe her as “professionally weird.” She lives in Cheshire, UK, with her husband and a large collection of unfinished scribblings.