The principal, and only named, character in the poem is the titular "nymph," Corinna. The poem focuses extensively on her characterization. She is not, as it happens, a nymph at all, a beautiful and unattainable young woman. She is a prostitute of indeterminate age, whose beauty has faded after years of poverty and abuse. She lives in a pest-ridden fourth-floor room, where she removes the makeup and clothing she uses to carefully disguise her true appearance. She is haggard, aging, and toothless. She suffers from a number of wounds, notably the characteristic chancres of syphilis (a disease that was epidemic among sex workers in the period, and which often led to tragic death). Corinna is not just physically deformed. She is also tormented, with dreams and memories of imprisonment, mistreatment, and abuse at the hands of the police and religious communities. She has been made disgusting by the...