* Pronouns: Pay close attention to pronouns like "I," "you," "he," "she," "it," "we," and "they." These reveal who is speaking and who they are addressing. For example, "I" often indicates the speaker is directly addressing the reader, while "you" could be directed towards a specific person or an abstract concept.
* Direct Address: The speaker might directly address a specific person or entity. This is often indicated by the use of a name or an interjection, such as "Oh, my love" or "Dearest friend."
* Contextual Clues: The poem's setting, tone, imagery, and themes provide clues about the speaker's identity and who they are interacting with. For instance, a poem about a battlefield suggests a soldier as the speaker, while a poem about a garden might suggest a gardener.
* Voice: The speaker's voice, including their tone, diction, and rhythm, can reveal their personality, motivations, and even their social class or background.
* Structure: The structure of the poem, like the use of stanzas, rhyme scheme, and meter, can also contribute to understanding the speaker and their relationship to the subject.
Example:
Let's take a look at these lines from Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy":
> "You do not do, you do not do / Any more, black shoe / In which I have lived like a foot / For thirty years, poor and white, / Barely daring to breathe or Achoo."
* Pronouns: The speaker uses "I" and "you" to reveal their relationship to the "black shoe."
* Direct Address: The speaker directly addresses "you," which seems to be the "black shoe," but could also be a more abstract entity.
* Contextual Clues: The tone is dark and confessional, suggesting the speaker is dealing with a painful and complex relationship.
* Voice: The speaker's voice is tense, desperate, and emotionally charged, reflecting their state of being.
By analyzing these elements, readers can begin to understand the complex dynamic between the speaker and the "black shoe," which is often interpreted as a metaphor for the speaker's domineering father.
Remember, poetry is often open to interpretation, so multiple readings and analyses of a poem can lead to different understandings of the speaker and their relationship to the subject.