The narrator of the poem is grieving the sudden, tragic loss of their mother. Functioning as a witness during the burial, the speaker struggles to process the finality of the death and the physical reality of the muddy, hollow graveyard. They leave the funeral feeling a deep sense of guilt and repeatedly return to the gravesite in the present day, unable to move past the loss.

The subject of the poem's elegy, the mother has recently died under tragic circumstances, prompting a difficult and painful funeral. Though physically deceased, she remains a heavy presence in the speaker's mind. Her headstone serves as a cold, literal resting place for the speaker in the present day.

The religious figure presiding over the mother's funeral. He calls out to the crowd for a witness, prompting the speaker to raise their hand in acknowledgment. He delivers the message that while the physical body stops working in death, the soul continues onward as a journeyman.