Point of View

The poem takes a complex approach to point of view. The poem is written from a first-person perspective that is split into two roles: the writer, who is actually narrating the story, and Rosamund, who, through him, reveals the plot. The poem is the Complaint of Rosamund — it is Rosamund’s story — but she is not the person speaking directly to the reader. Instead, her story is mediated through the writer’s perspective.

The writer/narrator’s characterization in the poem is quite minimal. We learn that he is in his “own distress,” worrying about his own problems or losses (37). He is characterized in ways typical of a writer, bound to the creative impulses symbolized by a muse. Other than that, he is not apparently significant to the poem’s story, or particularly to its themes. This raises the question of what purpose this dual...