The speaker is watching a woman whose veil is lifted by the wind, briefly exposing her laughter. That small, unguarded moment hits him hard: he says he ceases and turns pale. The poem circles back to this image three times, so the reader feels how fixated and shaken he is. He is caught up in sadness about love and what comes after, but her sudden laughter cuts through all that. It is not necessarily a happy poem. There is something almost painful in how much power this glimpse has over him. The mood is intimate and haunting, like a memory that keeps returning. The veil suggests concealment and mystery, and the wind keeps disturbing it, revealing something he cannot ignore. The repetition gives it a trance-like, almost obsessive quality.
Birdcage Walk — Summary
When the wind blows her veil And uncovers her laughter I cease, I turn pale. When the wind blows her veil From the woes I bewail Of love and hereafter: When the wind blows her veil I cease, I turn pale.