Dramatic monologue, also known as a persona poem, is a type of poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character.
M.H. Abrams notes the following three features of the
dramatic monologue as it applies to poetry:
Types of dramatic monologue
One of the most important influences on the development of the dramatic monologue is
romantic poetry. However, the long, personal lyrics typical of the Romantic period are not dramatic monologues, in the sense that they do not, for the most part, imply a concentrated narrative. Poems such as
William Wordsworth's
Tintern Abbey and
Percy Bysshe Shelley's
Mont Blanc, to name two famous examples, offered a model of close psychological observation and philosophical or pseudo-philosophical inquiry described in a specific setting. The
conversation poems of
Samuel Taylor Coleridge are perhaps a better precedent.