Romeo and Juliet Narrative Poem: A Poetic Summary of William Shakespeare’s Famous Play

Jennifer Wilber works as an ESL instructor, substitute teacher, and freelance writer. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing and English.

Romeo and Juliet Narrative Poem

Their families’ differences
Kept them apart
Fate had them doomed
Right from the start

As soon as he saw her
His other love he forgot
Despite their families’ wishes
They liked each other a lot

He went to see her
The night that they met
She pronounced her love for him
But it was by accident

They made plans to marry
The very next day
And to keep it a secret
They’d find a way

Nurse helped her to
Follow her heart
And to get to her love
By nine ‘o clock sharp

They were then married
And allowed no one to know
For every minute apart
Their love seemed to grow

A brawl then broke out
His best friend was slain
By his secret wife’s cousin
This caused him great pain

He picked up his sword
In his unthinking grief
And slaughtered his kinsman
His death would be brief

Her husband was banished
Her cousin lay dead
She couldn’t believe
The news that was said

She needed to see him
He’d be soon sent away
Nurse knew where he was
So she sent her his way

He went to see her
At her window that night
He’d soon have to leave
All would not be alright

She had to get married
To a man picked by her dad
He knew nothing about
The husband she already had

The wedding had to be stopped
Before it began
So she went to the friar
And they came up with a plan

They thought she had died
The plan was working out great
But her husband, too, was tricked
Oh woe was their fate!

Without his true love
He didn’t want to live
So he bought some poison
To which himself he would give

She arose from her tomb
Only to find more despair
Her only love laying dead
Was more than she could bear

But the poison was gone
And voices were heard down the hall
So she picked up the dagger
And with death she did fall

From misguided hatred
Two lives were lost
Only with death
Could their differences be resolved

Why I Wrote this Poem

I wrote this narrative poem summarizing the plot of William Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet as part of an English assignment in high school. This poem serves to summarize the main plot points of the play, and to help the reader to better understand the play.

© 2018 Jennifer Wilber

Comments

Beatrice Chiu on May 15, 2020:

It's really a good and beautiful literary idea of using poems to help young literature learners understand the play. Thank you for your sharing, Jennifer. It's Beatrice, from Hong Kong.

Amalia Leo on April 06, 2020:

Hi!! I´m from Spain and I love your narrative poem :)

Could you tell me if there is any figure of speech (rhetorical figure) in the text??

BRENDA ARLEDGE from Washington Court House on November 21, 2019:

Your descriptions are wonderful. I can feel this whole poem as it takes place.

Great write.

K'okula Geórgê on October 28, 2019:

Good work you can inspire many people who are willing to become poets

Carol Murray on October 22, 2019:

We enjoyed the work, keep writing

Priya Dinesh from Bangalore on September 13, 2019:

Such an innovative approach, it was an absolute delight to read. Thanks for sharing this :)

Tim Truzy from U.S.A. on April 21, 2019:

Great work. Loved it. Romeo and Juliet can be difficult without some idea behind the plot. Your poem was excellent. Thanks.-Tim

Mark Tulin from Ventura, California on October 01, 2018:

Good exercise. In poetry, you could really feel the power of the story.

Elijah A Alexander Jr from Washington DC on July 16, 2018:

I MUST say thank you because I never got the gist of what that poem was about. Maybe I never actually completed it but for sure I now know, thanks to you pining it so clearly.