<P> "My Last Duchess" is a poem by Robert Browning, frequently anthologised as an example of the dramatic monologue . It first appeared in 1842 in Browning's Dramatic Lyrics . The poem is written in 28 rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter . </P> <P> The poem is preceded by "Ferrara:", indicating that the speaker is most likely Alfonso II d'Este, the fifth Duke of Ferrara (1533--1598), who, at the age of 25, married Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici, the 14 - year - old daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleonora di Toledo . </P> <P> Lucrezia was not well educated, and the Medicis could be considered "nouveau riche" in comparison to the venerable and distinguished Este family (Alfonso II d'Este's remark regarding his gift of a "nine - hundred - years - old name" clearly indicates that he considered his bride beneath him socially). She came with a sizeable dowry, and the couple married in 1558 . He then abandoned her for two years before she died on 21 April 1561, at age 17 . There was a strong suspicion of poisoning . The Duke then sought the hand of Barbara, eighth daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary and the sister of the Count of Tyrol, Ferdinand II . The count was in charge of arranging the marriage; the chief of his entourage, Nikolaus Madruz, a native of Innsbruck, was his courier . Madruz is presumably the listener in the poem . </P> <P> The other characters named in the poem - painter Frà Pandolf and sculptor, Claus of Innsbruck - are fictional . </P>

Who is the duke speaking to in the poem my last duchess