The speaker is remembering a story about Grandmother Polly in her early married days, when she was still alone in a tiny cabin in the woods. The opening mentions people—Clem, Joe, Sandy, and Evaline—who were not with her yet, making her solitude feel stronger. At night wolves would come down from the rocks, their fur bristling, and howl right outside her door, showing their white teeth. There is a quiet, eerie tension: it never describes an attack, just the wild animals pressing close in the dark. The speaker seems thrilled and a little scared by this family story, as if imagining Polly alone inside while the wolves prowl at the threshold. The mood is hushed, folk-like, and slightly spooky.
The Wolves — Summary
When Grandmother Polly had married and gone, But before her father had given her Clem, Or Joe, or Sandy, or Evaline-- Before he had given her any of them,
She used to live in a far-away place, In a little cabin that was her home, And all around were bushes and trees, And the wolves could come.
At night they ran down out of the rocks And bristled up their trembly fur. They came and howled by Polly's door And showed their little white teeth at her.