Point of View

The poem is written in a first-person, present-tense point of view. That means that it is written from the perspective of a single speaker, who is also the central character in the poem and who narrates events as though they are taking place in real time, while the reader is learning about them. This is the most common point of view in poetry, as it lends itself to a sense of immediacy and intimacy that is consistent with many poetic goals.

In this poem, however, it is more than a standard part of the form – it is a central part of the poem’s work as a political device. It is common for the speaker (the fictional character speaking) to be conflated with the author (the real person writing), especially in first-person poems. By choosing the first person point-of-view for her poem, Elizabeth is inviting...