The speaker
The speaker is an older man who is dating a woman who is dishonest with and cheats on him. He chooses to believe his lover’s lies because he thinks believing them makes him appear younger than he is. Only a young and inexperienced man person could be this gullible. The speaker has some doubts about this relationship. He wonders why he lies about his age and why his lover lies about being faithful. By the end of the poem, he decides that these lies are actually the best thing about their love. It allows them to be together.
The lover
The lover swears to the speaker that she is truthful, but she is not. She is likely cheating on the speaker. She is aware that the speaker knows that she is a liar, but they both pretend that she is truthful. She also knows that the speaker is old, but she pretends not to notice it. The lover in this poem is often associated with the “dark lady” who is the subject of Shakespeare’s sonnets 127 to 154. This is a woman who is dark-haired, not very beautiful, and often unfaithful.
