Ms. Amber Huntington Adapted from Introduction to the Poem, Revised Second Edition Robert W. Boynton and Maynard Mack

 The most important single factor in a poem considered as a dramatic situation is its speaker  A poem is always spoken by someone—most obviously, by the poet  But when we start looking closely at the dramatic character of poetry, we find that we have to allow for a more immediate speaker than the poet him/herself, one whom the poet has imagined speaking the poem, as an actor speaks a part written for him by a playwright  In some instances, this imagined speaker is in no way definite or distinctive; he/she is simply a voice  But often the speaker is much more than a voice, and then he/she becomes a contributor to the whole meaning of the poem  The personal situation in any poem is whatever the speaker of the poem is reacting to

The following poem has a speaker with a definite personality, which, as you’ll see, contributes to the poem’s overall tone and message. "Had he and I but met By some old ancient inn, We should have sat us down to wet Right many a nipperkin*! *half-pint glass "But ranged* as infantry, *set in place And staring face to face, I shot at him and he at me, And killed him in his place. "I shot him dead because – Because he was my foe, Just so – my foe of course he was; That's clear enough; although "He thought he'd 'list* perhaps, *enlist Off-hand like – just as I – Was out of work – had sold his traps* – * belongings No other reason why. "Yes; quaint and curious war is! You shoot a fellow down You'd treat if met where any bar is, Or help to half-a-crown*.“ *British coin Getting to know the speaker:  Why has the speaker enlisted?  What shows the speaker to be a friendly, companionable sort?  What kind of language does he use (formal, informal, regional, etc.)  What two words in line 2 show that he is not a very precise user of language?  What question is he trying to answer in stanza three? What answer does he give? Is it an adequate answer? What in stanzas three and four show that the speaker is not fully satisfied with it?  What words in line 17 suggest there are limitations in the speaker’s ability to think and feel deeply about what he has done?  How does his way of dismissing the problem throw light on why decent and sensible men keep on going to war?  Note: The speaker and the author are very different people

The following poem has a speaker whose personality is by no means as simple as that of the speaker in “The Man He Killed,” but there is no doubt about the strongly personal view. There died a myriad* And of the best, among them, For an old bitch gone in the teeth* For a botched* civilization. Charm, smiling at the good mouth,* Quick eyes gone under earth’s lid, For two gross of broken statues, For a few thousand battered books. * myriad: a vast number * For…teeth: the connotations of “bitch” and old age, and decayed teeth are all suggestive of corruption and degradation *botched: messed up, bungled *Charm…mouth: The dead soldiers were young and pleasant, and smiled at pretty girls  What words show the speaker’s attitude toward the dead men here?  How far does the attitude resemble or differ from the attitude taken by the speaker of the preceding poem toward the man he killed?  What kind of person in the speaker?  In lines 7-8, the speaker implies that the civilization he is speaking of has little genuine respect for art or learning. What words in these lines especially carry this implication?  What interests does the speaker of this poem show that would not be apt to concern the speaker in the preceding poem?  Would the poem be strengthened or weakened by the omission of line 3? Why? (Consider whether line 4 says the same thing or not.)  What would be lost by omitting the word “good” in line 5? (Consider line 3.) 5

 The speaker of a poem is rarely the author  The speaker takes on a persona the author has created  The speaker contributes to the meaning of the poem as whole