The speaker in A Certain Lady could possibly be Dorothy Parker, it is hard to say, but it is apparent that she is not happy with the man she is talking to. Even the first line of the poem, "Oh, I can smile for you, and tilt my head," allows the reader to see the bitter tone of her voice. The use of the word "Can" makes it apparent that she is pretending to feel happiness when she really is a little bitter towards whom she is talking to. She is putting on a mask, the target of this poem will "never know...the straining things in [her] heart," because she hides them.
The title also suggests the idea that she is putting on a different identity because she could be trying to act like a "Certain" lady when really, she is something else.
The speaker of this poem is hiding something, possibly an affair that "goes on, my love, while you're away, you'll never know.
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The title and details provided by the poem make it clear that the speaker is a woman, possibly the author. What is certain is that this women is fed up with her husband/lover. She speaks of "the thousand little deaths my heart has died" and keeps telling her counterpart "you'll never know". The speaker being a woman makes the story more clear and also easier for the reader to quickly focus in on the real issue of this poem, the bitterness and ensuing affair. In the end, after all the indignity, the woman fights back.
I also tried to analyze this poem on my own blog but I interpreted it a little differently. I felt like the woman was speaking more generally to any man rather than her own lover. I thought that the speakers tone shifted from the beginning where it was more teasing in nature. Kind of her pointing out all the little ways she attracts a guy. But, by the end the tone alludes to her bitterness and sadness ultimately over the "thousand little deaths" that her heart has experienced. Who knows though, I could be completely wrong and just talking around in circles!
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