In the article “How to Read a Poem” from the Poets.org website, the poet William Carlos Williams, in acknowledging the challenges of reading poetry, writes that a reader must “complete” what the poet has begun. This means that it’s up to the reader to determine what the writer is trying to portray, however that doesn’t mean that the reader should come up with any interpretation of their own. “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning does well in guiding the reader to do such this. On line 130 the poet says “Would draw from her alike the approving speech,Or blush, at least. She thanked men, — good! but thanked Somehow — I know not how — as if she ranked My gift of nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift.” At first glance it may sound like the poet is pointing out her good manners, but we see that’s not the case. As the poem goes on we see that he’s actually berating his wife for treating his gift as one of the many other’s she receives.
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