The premise of a famous poem is that the narrator -- the only speaker -- is conducting a visitor through his extensive art collection. Pausing at one work, the subject of which is the title of the poem, he provides some rather disturbing information. What is this poem, who wrote it, and who is presumed to be the narrator?

bigponder

I'm guessing Robert Browning's My Last Duchess. Quoting from Representative Poetry online: Browning likely intended the duke to be Alfonso II (1533-1598), fifth duke of Ferrara, in northern Italy, from 1559 to 1597, and the last member of the Este family. He married his first wife, 14-year-old Lucrezia, a daughter of the Cosimo I de' Medici, in 1558 and three days later left her for a two-year period. She died, 17 years old, in what some thought suspicious circumstances. Alfonso contrived to meet his second to-be spouse, Barbara of Austria, in Innsbruck in July 1565. Nikolaus Mardruz, who took orders from Ferdinand II, count of Tyrol, led Barbara's entourage then. This source was discovered by Louis S. Friedland and published in "Ferrara and My Last Duchess," Studies in Philology 33 (1936): 656-84. http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/288.html Sep 09 07, 9:57 PM

Flem-ish

Only Robert Browning could fit this "description".If..then..this might be helpful: http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/browning/section3.rhtml SparkNotes: Robert Browning's Poetry: "My Last Duchess" Sep 10 07, 4:26 AM

lanfranco

Excellent, both of you. "Browning's "My Last Duchess" it is. Now, I might have a couple of silver poison rings sitting around in my vault .... Sep 10 07, 7:18 AM