Recap
The speaker is the voice that says a poem; the speaker is not necessarily the poet. Treat the speaker as a character: their words, details, organisation of thought, decisions and actions reveal their perspective and any bias. Always ask who is speaking, to whom, when and why, and how.
Key relationships
| Idea | What it means | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker | The voice that says the poem | Pronouns, situation, relationship |
| Addressee | Who the speaker is talking to | “You”, titles, form of address |
| Occasion | When and why the speaker speaks | Departure, return, quarrel, memory |
| Tone | The speaker’s attitude | Word choice, repetition, corrections |
| Perspective | How the speaker understands their circumstances | What they notice, avoid and assume |
| Self-correction | The speaker revises a thought | Dashes, breaks, “no” or “I mean” |
What you may assume
- A poem’s “I” is a created voice unless the question tells you otherwise.
- You may infer a speaker’s situation from details, but state only what the lines support.
- A speaker may be honest, mistaken, evasive or ironic.
Mistakes to avoid
- Writing “the poet” when you mean “the speaker”.
- Labelling the tone with no quoted lines.
- Ignoring the addressee.
- Treating omissions and corrections as unimportant.
- Retelling the poem instead of saying what the voice reveals.
Key terms
- Speaker: the voice that says the poem; not necessarily the poet.
- Addressee: the person or thing the speaker talks to.
- Occasion: the moment and reason for speaking.
- Tone: the speaker’s attitude, shown by word choice, detail and corrections.
Sentence frames
- “The speaker’s [repetition / correction / omission] of ‘…’ shows ….”
- “By addressing ‘…’, the speaker shows a relationship of ….”
- “The tone moves from … to …, signalled by ….”
Mini-example
Line: “Or so / the ticket says.” Reveals: doubt about returning. Claim: the speaker hides fear behind practical instructions.
How questions ask about this
- “The speaker’s phrase … most directly shows that the speaker …”: find the attitude or perspective the words reveal.
- “The speaker addresses …”: identify the addressee from forms of address and pronouns.
- “The tone of the poem is best described as …”: choose an answer that fits the whole poem and any shift.
- Constructed response: make a claim about the speaker’s perspective and support it with two quoted lines.
Quick self-check
- In “I am only going for a week. Or so the ticket says”, what does the second sentence reveal?
- Why is “chartered” repeated in Blake’s first stanza worth commenting on?
- What is the difference between speaker and addressee?
Answers.
- It hands certainty to the ticket, which shows that the speaker doubts she will be back in a week.
- The repetition applies the idea of legal ownership or control to both the street and the river, which suggests that the speaker sees control everywhere in the city.
- The speaker is the voice; the addressee is who the voice is speaking to.
Full explanations are in the study guide. Try the practice questions next.