Poetic Terms Dictionary
Technique

Voice

Distinct from persona (a specific constructed speaker). 'Finding one's voice' is the central project of poetic development; each major poet's voice is immediately recognisable.

Definition

The distinctive personality, tone, and diction of a poem's speaker — the characteristic quality that makes a poet recognisable.

Example

Dickinson's voice: compressed, hymn-like, slant-rhymed; Whitman's: expansive, cataloguing, prophetic.

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