SPEAKER VS. POET
THE SPEAKER
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One of the most difficult concepts in the study of
poetry is that of the speaker.
The speaker is roughly equivalent to the
narrator of fictional works. It is a character or
psychological persona that the poet constructs to
deliver the words of the poem.
WHO IS THE SPEAKER OF A POEM?
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Many times in poetry, personal feelings and
thoughts are expressed in first person; however,
just as the authors of novels do not necessarily
feel and think the same things as their
characters, poets who use “I” in their poems may
not be speaking for themselves.
It is important to remember that the speaker of
the poem is the proper term in formal analysis.
WHY DO POEMS HAVE SPEAKERS?
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Poems can have characters just as other literary
works do.
Not every poem, (or every essay or novel) is
autobiographical in nature.
Poems can be just as fictional as other works.
IS IT THE SPEAKER OR THE POET?
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Some poems are autobiographical.
To be certain whether the poet speaks from his or
her own experience, you must be familiar with
the life experience of the poet.
Superficial study of the poet (reaching only as
deep as the poet’s name, gender, birth date and
gender) is insufficient to substantiate a claim
that every word in a poem represents an actual
event in the poet’s life.
SPEAKER VS. POET
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Be careful when studying poetry not to attribute
the emotions or events experienced by the
speaker to the poet, him- or herself.
Sometimes we have strong biographical evidence
linking the speaker to the poet, in which case you
might quote and cite that information to make
your case; however, for the purpose of this class,
you should mentally divorce the speaker from the
poet.