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  Robert Browning  (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose  dramatic monologues  put him high among the  Victorian poets . He was noted for  irony ,  characterization , dark humour,  social commentary , historical settings and challenging  vocabulary  and  syntax . The speaker introduces the lovely river town of Hamelin in Brunswick and tells of its serious vermin problem 500 years before. Rats had overrun the city, to the point that the public demanded of the Mayor and "our Corporation" that the rats be destroyed or else the people would remove them from power. The Mayor  and Corporation have a stressful meeting, but can discover no viable option until "the strangest figure" arrives. He is extremely gangly, garbed in bizarrely colored clothing, and old-fashioned. They also notice he has a flute hanging around his neck, which he continues to finger while they talk. He explains that he has heard of their problem and has a "secret