The narrative voice of the poem contemplates a hypothetical death and how the world will proceed without them. The speaker possesses a split perspective—one voice is childlike and amazed by the natural world's endless endurance, while the other is adult, snarky, and detached regarding the chaotic human financial system. They seek a viable strategy for accepting mortality without fear.

The unidentified addressee of the poem outlives the speaker in the central hypothetical scenario. The text presents this figure as a possible lover, a close confidant, a family member, the reader, or even the speaker's own soul. The speaker prepares this figure on how to view the world after the speaker passes away.

A poet in her mid-twenties living a quiet, intellectually rigorous life in her family's home. Fascinated by the intersection of intellect and emotion, she crafts minimalist poetry with radical grammatical structures. She relies on her immediate historical context, particularly the financial panic of 1857, to shape her metaphors about life and mortality.

A prominent lawyer who serves as a powerful emotional presence in his daughter's life. He maintains a hectic social schedule and holds a broad portfolio of investments. He suffers heavy financial losses during the catastrophic Panic of 1857, an event that directly inspires the stock market metaphors in his daughter's poetry.

These elderly men represent the bustling artificial ecosystem of urban commerce. The speaker visualizes them diligently maintaining banks and stock exchanges above ground while the dead rest below. Within the poem's historical context, they serve as an ironic symbol of the panic and financial ineptitude driving the economic collapse of 1857.