Point of View

Like most sonnets, this poem is written in first person present tense point of view. That means that it is narrated from the perspective of a speaker who is also the central character in the poem, and as though the poem were taking place at the same time as it is being read (rather than in the future or in the past). This perspective is by far the most common in the sonnet form, and predominates in all sub-genres of early modern English poetry. It is useful because it creates a sense of immediacy and urgency. By writing in the first person present-tense point of view, writers invite their audience to feel intimately connected to the narrative that they are telling.

In this poem in particular, the first-person point of view is significant because of the highly interior nature of the poem. The poem is...