The unnamed narrator travels through a darkening garden alongside their romantic partner. They closely observe their surroundings, noticing how changing light alters the appearance of their partner's name. A heightened awareness of physical vulnerability and impending danger informs their actions as they walk forward. Following a violent encounter, their voice cracks like radio static.

The speaker's lover accompanies them on an urgent journey. His identity and presence appear highly dependent on circumstance; his name changes based on where he stands in relation to the light and shadows. Like the speaker, he understands the day is ending but continues walking until intercepted by an outside physical force.

A personified physical force that violently interrupts the couple's walk. Instead of acting as a natural law, gravity attacks with malicious intent, breaking the kneecaps of the travelers. It forces them to the ground and dictates that they look up at the sky, demanding conformity and compliance.

A female deer that frames the events of the poem. Initially present as a victim of a hunter's arrow at sunset, she later appears alive in a cold field. She stands quietly on frosted grass, stepping near a man who calls out for a girl but fails to notice her presence.

An unidentified male figure who mirrors the mythological Orpheus. He stands in a frosted field calling out desperately for a girl. Despite his vocal distress and desire to find her, he remains completely unaware that the doe is stepping on the grass right beside him.

An ancient Greek musician possessing incredible artistic skills. Following the sudden death of his bride on their wedding day, he travels to the underworld to secure her return. He succeeds in charming the rulers of the dead but fails to bring his wife back when he breaks their strict rule by looking behind him too soon.

A mythological nymph connected to the natural world. Her marriage ends abruptly on her wedding day due to a fatal snakebite. She follows her husband out of the underworld but gets pulled back into the land of the dead right before reaching the surface.

The mythological co-ruler of the dead. He acts as the strict enforcer of rules and boundaries, listening to the musician's plea but attaching a severe condition to his agreement. He immediately snatches the bride back into the underworld when the condition is broken by a technicality.

The mythological co-ruler of the dead who listens to the sorrowful song of the grieving musician. She helps grant the conditional permission for the bride to return to the living world.