Historical Dramatic Monologues in Selected Poems by Norman Dubie

Abstract

     Norman Dubie's (1942- ) collection of poems Mercy Seat (2001) is the most outstanding collection written by an American poet in the early 2000's. The collection includes more than 200 poems in two parts and 400 pages. It includes poems from the previous seventeen volumes of poems. This paper sheds light on the poet's employment of the dramatic monologues spoken by historical persona in selected poems from the Mercy Seat. It is noted in the collection that Dubie uses notorious personages as speakers and subjects. However, the poet's main reason behind this use of historical figures is not the recounting of facts about these personae.