A man with little money wanders through a large city in winter, surrounded by snow but completely unknown. No woman, man, or dog recognizes him as he goes up and down the streets. His walking is not leisurely; it is a way to stay warm and avoid using his small sack of coals. The mention of Jews and Russian Poles hints at a poor immigrant neighborhood, yet he remains outside even that community.
The poem creates a quiet, lonely mood. The repeated walking night and noon feels restless and circular, as if the speaker has no destination and no real place in the city. The cold outside echoes an inner isolation. He knows the shops and faces, but nothing knows him back. The final image of the sack of coals adds a note of careful poverty, leaving him suspended in a blank, cold anonymity.