DRAMATIC LYRIC VS. DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE
In a dramatic lyric, the speaker operates within a particular dramatic situation, and
addresses one or more silent auditors (recognized only indirectly by the reader).
Emphasis is placed upon the poem's subject rather than the speaker's character (compare
Dramatic Monologue ). John Donne's "The Canonization" (1633) and Wordsworth's
"Tintern Abbey" (1798) are examples. Quoted below is the first stanza of Donne's "The
Flea" (1633), in which the speaker addresses his mistress in the dramatic moment of
seduction; the main interest of the poem is his ingenious (perhaps over-ingenious)
argument comparing a flea bite with the act of love.
A dramatic monologue is a species of lyric poem in which the speaker is a persona
created by the poet; the speaker's character is revealed unintentionally through his or her
attitudes in the dramatic situation (compare soliloquy. In addition, the speaker may
address and interact with silent auditors (see dramatic lyric ).