ABSTRACT
Story or narrative poems, and ballads too, appeal to the over eights because of their drama, pace and rhythm. Classic poems and poems from other cultures have a well-deserved place in the primary school collection. The most ancient kind of story or narrative poem is the ballad of old, which usually tells its tale in short rhyming verses and was sometimes accompanied by music. The narrative poems include Michael Rosen’s ‘Me and My Brother’, with its hilarious dialogue which reveals so much about the relationship between parents and children. The strong beat or rhythm keeps up the pace of the tale and helped with memorizing at a time when stories were passed from generation to generation orally. The ballad pattern can take many forms, but traditionally a ballad stanza is a quatrain. Poems by poets from different cultures and traditions remind children that although there are diverse environments, customs and situations across the globe, themes have universal interest and concern.
