Epistolary poetry, rooted in the intimate structure of letters, thrives on the duality of audience and intent. These poems oscillate between the raw vulnerability of personal correspondence and the curated artistry expected of public literary works. The tension between authenticity and performance becomes a defining feature, as poets navigate the blurred lines between confession and craft.

The Private Voice: Intimacy and Rawness

The private voice in epistolary poetry emerges from the assumption of secrecy. Poems framed as letters to a confidant, lover, or even the self often invoke a sense of unfiltered emotion. Lines like those in Dorothy Wordsworth's journals or Anne Sexton's Live or Die feel confessional, as if they were never meant to be read beyond their intended recipient. This voice prioritizes honesty, imperfection, and immediacy, with irregular rhythms and fragmented thoughts mirroring the spontaneity of real letters. Readers are drawn into the illusion of eavesdropping, seduced by the promise of unguarded truth.

The Public Voice: Craftsmanship and Curation

Conversely, the public voice acknowledges the poem's existence in a communal space. Even when structured as a letter, the language becomes more polished, intentional, and self-aware. Poets like Alexander Pope or modern writers such as Ocean Vuong in Night Sky with Exit Wounds craft verses that anticipate audience scrutiny, embedding literary devices like metaphor, allusion, or formal structure. The epistolary frame becomes a performance, where the letter-writer's persona is meticulously constructed-witty, tragic, or passionate-to elicit a specific emotional or intellectual response from readers.

The Tension Between Authenticity and Performance

The conflict arises when these two voices collide. Is the poet revealing their true self, or staging a version of it? Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese initially presents as private love letters, yet their lyrical precision and publication reveal a calculated interplay between intimacy and artistry. Similarly, the rise of social media-inspired epistolary poetry-such as poems addressing systemic oppression in Claudia Rankine's Citizen-forces writers to balance personal anguish with broader societal commentary, complicating the notion of "private" expression. Authenticity risks becoming a performance itself, a commodified vulnerability for public consumption.

Conclusion: The Illusion of Duality

Ultimately, the division between public and private voices in epistolary poetry is an illusion. Every letter-poem exists in a liminal space where the act of writing necessitates both self-expression and self-editing. The tension between authenticity and performance is not a flaw but a strength, reflecting the human condition's complexity-we are all, in part, performers in our own lives, even in our most intimate moments. Epistolary poetry captures this paradox, inviting readers to question where sincerity ends and artifice begins, and why such boundaries matter at all.