The speaker
The speaker is thoughtful and observant, taken by the effigy's intertwined hands. Although he's touched by this sentimentality, he also has a rational side that reminds him that the couple likely didn't marry for love. Ultimately, he seems conflicted.
The earl and duchess
The earl and countess memorialized in the poem are believed to be Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, and his second wife, Eleanor of Lancaster, who both died in the 1370s, almost 600 years before the writing of the poem. The reader doesn't know much about them beyond their identities as nobles, and much of what the speaker says about them is speculation.
