The Male
The male voice of this duet for voices is situated on the left side of the page. In order to avoid the two speakers crossing over each other to the point of creating mere noise, the male sets the pace and timing of the dialogue. Perhaps surprisingly, the male is more wordy--one might even describe him as verbose in comparison to the woman. Technically, the left hand voice could be a woman, according to the author, but only under certain circumstances; the speaker ideally should replicate the authority of the typical male voice.
The Female
The female is the counterpoint and her words are printed on the right side fo the page. The primary differentiation of the female--aside from speaking fewer words--is the repetitive quality. The female speaker will repeat certain words said by the male, but with the addition of emphasis or clarification. In many ways, the gender of the speakers in this poem are the reverse of what is stereotypically found in dialogue. Generally speaking, women are given to more "talkativeness" while men charge themselves with clarification and emphasis. This poem reverses that convention.
