The Dog (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Gerald Stern
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Work: Dramatic monologue
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic monologue
The Poem
Gerald Stern’s “The Dog” is a free-verse dramatic monologue. In it, a dog speaks from the roadside where he lies dead. In the first third of the poem, the dog talks about his condition, explaining how he lay beside the road for hours before he died and how he looked after death. In the middle third of the poem the dog addresses the “lover of dead things” who will come to dispose of his body. Finally, the dog addresses the “great human heart” (which may be the same as the lover of dead things), asking it for forgiveness and love.
Stern is often...
[The entire page is 1426 words long]
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