The Speaker

The speaker of the poem is a lover who announces that he has given up on love. In the octave of the poem, the speaker is resigned, but allegedly glad to be free of the constraints that the relationship has put on him. However, it quickly becomes clear that the speaker is deluding himself and that he cannot give up on love so readily. Instead, he asks his beloved to save whatever might be left between them. Some interpret the speaker to be a victim of unrequited love, while others interpret him to be one person in a relationship that has run its course. Regardless, the speaker is unable to fulfill his promise at the beginning of the poem when he decides to "kiss and part" from his beloved (1).

The Beloved

The poem is addressed to the speaker's beloved. In Idea's Mirror, the broader sonnet sequence in...