Point of View

“The Emperor of Ice-Cream” is written in a third-person imperative voice, with the speaker beginning the poem with a list of commands. The speaker appears to be in a position of authority, or at the very least, in charge of preparing for the upcoming event. There is no description of the speaker or any clues as to who they may be. This challenges readers to find the meaning of the poem in the images the speaker presents and from the commands they give without having any background information to add to their analysis. The speaker’s relationship to the dead woman in the second stanza is also unknown. Without clear clues about the speaker’s connection to the woman, it leaves the reader even more unsure about how the speaker feels about her death.

This point of view, along with the anonymous nature of the...