Speaker

As in most poems, the central character is the speaker. She does not describe herself in terms of demographics or appearance – everything readers know about her is inference from the language in the poem. The speaker seems to be a particularly passionate person, with strong, intense emotions. She may also be a poet, as she describes the experience of grappling with language as a way to express how she feels. She is also someone who stands outside of social expectations, choosing to do things in her "own way" (18).

"You"

The poem also directly addresses another character. Presumably, this is a lover from whom the speaker is about to part, based on the poem's title. We can infer that this person is more emotionally cold or restrained, from the reference to her "frozen lips" (1). Other than that, though, very little information about this subject is given in the poem...