Poetic Persona

[NobodyNothing]

I think when poetry first came quite impressionably to my attention, I became enamored by the idea of poetic persona.  Not consciously at first, but later became more consciously to the realization of that idea.  As an example, I'll start with the obvious, Walt Whitman.  Whitman created a poetic persona for himself that became almost indistinguishable from his poetry.  There was walt whitman the "actual" person (whomever that may have been), and WALT WHITMAN the poetic persona behind all his poetry, most notably in the original edition of "Leaves Of Grass".  

Whitman remains the greatest and most foreboding of all American poets for the poetic persona that he created/affected in his poetry.  One might say that Whitman's poetic persona was the very essential thing that towers over all other American poets to this day.  He's almost impossible to escape in this way, the shadow of his poetic persona cast so far and wide, almost ubiquitously pervasive in its presence.  

I often wondered to myself if Whitman could ever be exceeded in this way?  We all have our poetic personas, that which "distinguishes" ourselves from others, talent and quality issues aside.  Yeats certainly had quite the poetic persona.  Rilke did as well.  There might be those who might argue that the greatest of poets (perhaps Shakespeare) are great for the very reason of an "absence" of persona (Shakespeare has been called by the greatest of literary critics the artist who was "everyone and no one", almost perfectly omniscient).  

I was always fascinated by the idea of what poetic persona (imagined, of course) could possibly speak for and embody the soul of a people, a nation, a country, a world now?  Is there anything/anyone conceivable beyond Whitman in this way?

I don't know...just babbling.

But anyway, what is your poetic persona?  How would you describe the poetic personas of other poets you have admired and been influenced by?  

An exercise, I guess (or just a musing on the subject matter).