This section contains 1,424 words (approx. 4 pages at 400 words per page) |
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The first line of Lake introduces an ambiguous you as its subject, and this individual is addressed throughout the poem. It is worth considering the actual identity of you, because poets often use this second-person pronoun in various and interesting ways. Sometimes there is a detail or a description within the work that identifiesor even namesthe you. At other times, you can refer to the audience in general, drawing readers themselves into the poem by seeming to speak directly to them. Still other poets use you to mean the speaker him- or herself. That is, you really means I, but referring to oneself in the second person allows a distanceor a chance to examine a situation more objectivelythat the first person does not afford. Which is the case in Lake?
The short answer is that we do not know. But Warren is noted...
This section contains 1,424 words (approx. 4 pages at 400 words per page) |
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