English Literature / Unit 1 ENL 0002 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Speaker and Poet
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The idea
The speaker is the voice inside the poem; the poet is the person who wrote it. They can differ sharply: a dramatic monologue gives the whole poem to an invented character. Exam questions ask about the speaker's attitude, so answer from the words on the page, not from the poet's life.
In practice
The voice is not the author.
Where people slip
Biography never overrides the text.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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