The poem follows a man who leaves home and enters a "huge country" where he understands neither the language nor the customs. The speaker describes him from the outside, in a quiet, almost reporting tone, yet the feeling underneath is heavy. Calling him "the symbol of sorrow" turns him from an individual into a figure for everyone who has been cut off from where they belong.
The short, broken lines mirror his isolation, with each phrase standing alone like him. The image of standing "straight as a board" suggests stiff dignity, perhaps pride that keeps him upright while he is lonely. The ending is strange and sad: he stands with "lancers of the non-existent army." The poem doesn't say who they are, but the phrase suggests that his only company is made of loss and memory, a force that no longer exists. The mood is solemn, stark, and quietly defiant.