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'Fabian Gudas and Michael Davidson open their article on "Voice" in the New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics with this observation:
'To stress voice in discussions of poetry may be simply a reminder of the large extent to which poetry depends on sound. The qualities of vocal sounds enter directly into the aesthetic experience of performance, of poetry readings, but no less do those sounds resonate in the Inner ear' of a fully attentive silent reading. T.S. Eliot felt that one may hear at least three voices of poetry: that of the poet in silent meditation, that of the poet addressing an audience, and that of a dramatic character or persona created by the poet. Implicit in Eliot's division is the notion that behind these various voices lies one original voice — or what Aristotle called ethos — that expresses the poet's intentions and organizes the various personae.' (Introduction)