Finding Agency in Dear John

The Swiftie and The Scholar · Jul 30, 2026 · 1h 25m

We’re back in our Speak Now era with Dear John. Angela explains the lore behind this quintessential track 5 from Taylor Swift, and Uncle Jerry talks himself into being a fan of this poem.

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Works Cited:

Dear John Letter

Agnes von Kurowsky

*A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway

A Dear John Letter – Jean Shepard & Ferlin Husky

Dear John Letter – Whitney Houston

Epistolary frame

Poetic Inversion

Dramatic Irony

Metapoetry

Metonymy

The…