Speaker
The speaker of this poem is a woman grieving the loss of her lover. She uses a mournful tone throughout the poem, seeming to be unable to move on from this catastrophic loss. The reference to fifteen years passing suggests the speaker is a full-grown adult, likely around thirty years old. The age of the speaker is significant, because the thrust of the poem is that after having remained faithful to the memory of the lover, she seems to accept a life without joy, full of pain wrought by the memory of her happy past. She is seeking to find a future not dominated by melancholy but feels torn, as if this would be a betrayal of her memories.
Speaker's Lover
The speaker's lover does not appear in the poem alive, but the lover's presence hovers over the entire piece, driving the speaker's grief and pain. They are characterized as someone with whom the speaker shared a great and passionate love, and the loss of whom emptied the speaker's life of joy.
