Narrative poetry tells a story through verse. It combines the structural features of narrative—character, plot, setting—with the resources of poetic language.

Epics, ballads, and verse romances are major forms of narrative poetry. The story may be brief or book-length; the telling may be straightforward or highly stylized. Unlike lyric poetry, which centers on a moment of feeling or perception, narrative poetry moves through time and event. Unlike prose narrative, it uses meter, sound pattern, and concentrated imagery as essential elements of the storytelling.

Narrative poets must manage the pace of information, the balance between action and reflection, and the demands of the chosen verse form. Some narrative poems emphasize plot; others use the story mainly as a vehicle for description, digression, or thematic exploration. The form remains vital in both traditional and experimental modes.

A poem whose primary business is to recount a sequence of events is narrative poetry.