AuntShecky
08-28-2007, 12:05 PM
Tweak Your Speaker
When we write our verses, we should try to keep in mind that a poem always has a speaker--or narrator -- but not every speaker has a strong “voice.” Allow me, in my own humble way, to explain.
First, the “I” of a poem is not necessarily the author of the poem, even if the poem is written from a first-person p.o.v. There is an “I” as well as an “eye.” We shouldn’t necessarily assume that the poet and the poem’s “I” are one and the same. In his critical essays T. S. Eliot was a stickler about this.
You’ll find in Eliot’s own poems, notably “The Waste Land” numerous speakers, some appearing in long passages and others in tiny snippets. It is not difficult to find other poems with speakers whom would never be confused with the poet himself. The two that immediately jump to mind are: Browning: “My Last Duchess” and Coleridge: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”
All three of those poems I mentioned also have a strong voice. The voice of the poem is not the same as the speaker or narrator. According to my handy-dandy Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms, voice is “a rather vague metaphorical term by which some critics refer to distinctive features of a written work in terms of spoken utterance.” Voice often refers to style and tone, the overall dramatic impression of the piece. The definition may be vague,but the presence of a strong voice is crystal clear – you know it when you hear it!
Every poem has a speaker, but not every poem has a distinctive voice. A dynamic voice in a work makes the difference between a good poem and a great one.
PLEASE REPLY to this thread by posting your own poems which you think have “voice.”
In the following “reply” I’ve tried to write a ditty that I hope demonstrates the concept.
It’s called “The Village Idiot.” The speaker in this poem is not the author herself –
though some may debate the point!
-
When we write our verses, we should try to keep in mind that a poem always has a speaker--or narrator -- but not every speaker has a strong “voice.” Allow me, in my own humble way, to explain.
First, the “I” of a poem is not necessarily the author of the poem, even if the poem is written from a first-person p.o.v. There is an “I” as well as an “eye.” We shouldn’t necessarily assume that the poet and the poem’s “I” are one and the same. In his critical essays T. S. Eliot was a stickler about this.
You’ll find in Eliot’s own poems, notably “The Waste Land” numerous speakers, some appearing in long passages and others in tiny snippets. It is not difficult to find other poems with speakers whom would never be confused with the poet himself. The two that immediately jump to mind are: Browning: “My Last Duchess” and Coleridge: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”
All three of those poems I mentioned also have a strong voice. The voice of the poem is not the same as the speaker or narrator. According to my handy-dandy Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms, voice is “a rather vague metaphorical term by which some critics refer to distinctive features of a written work in terms of spoken utterance.” Voice often refers to style and tone, the overall dramatic impression of the piece. The definition may be vague,but the presence of a strong voice is crystal clear – you know it when you hear it!
Every poem has a speaker, but not every poem has a distinctive voice. A dynamic voice in a work makes the difference between a good poem and a great one.
PLEASE REPLY to this thread by posting your own poems which you think have “voice.”
In the following “reply” I’ve tried to write a ditty that I hope demonstrates the concept.
It’s called “The Village Idiot.” The speaker in this poem is not the author herself –
though some may debate the point!
-