Verse 7 of this poem has a positive and optimistic opening as the Pied piper is going to carry out his duty after being offered what he wanted in return which is “A thousand gliders” (line 95). Browning has opened this verse very cheerfully to show the readers the positive and naïve characteristics the Pied piper had, also his unawareness of the decisive mayor of this town. Since the Pied piper knew he had a magic pipe he wasn’t really bothered that how will he get rid of the rats, he knew he could do his job as soon as the pipe does its magic as he knew the power of his pipe when it says “he knew what magic slept”.
He blew the pipe like a “skilled adept”, this shows the readers that Browning is using simile to describe the Pied piper as a skilled professional, he was now used to this job of blowing his magic pipe. When he blows the pipe “his lips he wrinkles” this also shows that this Pied piper was a strange creature, the use of “wrinkle” may point to to the readers that the Pied piper must be really old as he also did appear in archaic clothing too in verse 6. To carry on with the rhyme scheme Browning twists a few words around when he says “green and blue” before the “eyes twinkled”. In this sentence, Browning has used beautiful imagery to describe the Pied pipers blue and green eyes twinkling. The word twinkling may also be referred to gems twinkling as this may also show the readers that the Pied piper was a special creature. Browning uses simile to described how the Pied pipers eyes twinkled, which were like “candle flames where salt is sprinkled” he also carryings on with the rhyming scheme to tie together this three verses to create suspense.
The uses of beautiful imagery and the use of rhyme scheme may suggest to the readers that this poem by Browning is set out for children. Further more, when he says “the pipe uttered” the use of personification saying that the pipe was talking is also a sign of children’s poetry. Browning has used personification to convey and emphasize unusual and vivid images of this magic pipe that Pied piper was using to get rid of rats in this town. Browning informs the reader that the sound of the pipe was like “an army muttered” the use of simile shows the readers that the sound of pipe was loud, noisy and wasn’t very pleasant. The use of army may indicate to the reader that this was probably the reason why all the rats had to follow the sound of the pipe after the Pied piper has blown it, like how an army has to follow its leader. Browning in this poem used the magic pipe as a symbol of power.
The noise of the magic pipe became worse as it was changing from muttering to grumbling and from grumbling to rumbling. Browning has used onomatopoeia to show the readers the strong images of the noise which were coming out from the pipe. The uses of onomatopoeia are usually found in children’s poetry, this can be another sign of this poem of Browning for children audience. This poem also uses quite a lot of child-like refrains such as repetition of the word “And” to emphasize the fast pace the poem is going at as well as building the climax.
Then it goes on to describe the description of the rats which cam in different colours and sizes, some were small and some were fat, this shows the readers that the Pied piper had power to destroy all the rat regardless of their colour and size. Although the sound of the pipe was horrible, the rats thought they were going somewhere which was much better then this place, to show their joy they are “dancing” to the sound of this pipe. Browning has used happy choice of words for the rats following the magic pipe to show the readers that the sound of the pipe had hypnotized the rats and their unawareness of their upcoming death. This did not last long, as soon as they reached river Weser, the rats “plunged and perished”. Browning has used the exclamation mark at the end of the poem to show the reader that the rats had finished in a bang and to turn simple indicative sentence into a strong command.
As much as the magic pipe was good at doing its job, it still left one rat behind. The rat that was left behind Browning refers him as “Juliuis Caesar” by using a simile he goes to rat-land to tell the tale about all the other rats that were thrown into the river by the sound of magic pipe. He describes the sound of the magic pipe as food when he says “I heard a sound as of scraping tripe, And putting apples, wondrous ripe,” that’s why they were all charmed by the sound of pipe as they though it was the delicious smell of apples.
The rat that saved himself carries on telling his tale and how all the rats were deceived by the sound of food whereas the magic pipe was leading them to the river. The rats says that the voice was coming from musical instrument such as “harp or psaltery” telling us that to “rejoice” and how they were all tricked in to it even him until he found himself in the river. Browning has written the rat’s point of view in first person narrative as he uses “I” to tell his story. He has used this technique to inform the rat’s point of view to make it more dramatic for the reader as to what had happen to them.
The common theme that Browning has used in verse seven are of deceiving one another. The Pied piper is going to be deceived by the mayor of this town whereas the Pied piper has tricked the rats into the river but for good cause. Browning has used beautiful adjectives for description and also the use of onomatopoeia to describe the voice of the magic pipe. These techniques are often found in children’s poetry. Browning has also written this poem for children to inform them that everything bad must be destroyed; in this verse the rats are destroyed.
