The unnamed speaker is a person trapped inside a rural home during an immensely powerful windstorm. Venturing out only briefly to fetch coal for the fire, the speaker functions as an awe-struck and terrified observer of nature's brutal force. Simultaneously, the speaker is locked in a strained, silent conflict with their partner indoors, matching the chaotic weather outside.

Functioning as a distinct, personified character, the wind is an impossibly powerful force of nature that terrorizes the earth and its inhabitants. It acts with arbitrary violence, wielding light like a knife and threatening to tear the hills from the dirt. The wind is wholly indifferent to human morality, comfort, or safety.

The speaker's unnamed partner shares the house during the violent weather. Terrified by the squall and gripping their heart, the partner sits in complete silence. This stillness displays a deep, unresolved interpersonal friction with the speaker that prevents them from providing mutual comfort.

A small black-and-white bird caught in the daytime storm. Traditionally symbolizing intelligence or illusion, the magpie is effortlessly tossed aside by the wind. It falls easily to the storm, proving nature's complete disregard for living creatures.

A large black-backed bird caught in the tempest. Despite being the largest species of its kind and traditionally representing resourcefulness, it is mangled by the wind like a piece of metal. Its defeat proves that no amount of physical hardiness can withstand the storm's wrath.