Point of View

This poem is written entirely in a third-person point-of-view. The poem thus depicts the events that it describes with a high degree of distance. We are not explicitly shown what the speaker feels about the subject, leaving it open to the reader’s interpretation how they should feel about these events. The third-person perspective is also appropriate for a poem which takes as its subject the biography of a figure of importance. It mirrors a biographical or historical work more than it does a work of poetry or other fine art.

The third-person perspective also gives the poem a veneer of objectivity. In fact, the poem reveals a subtle critique of many of its controversial subjects. However, by using the third person, rather than having a first-person perspective that explicitly reveals the narratorial perspective, the poet creates a veneer or appearance of distance, even where...