The poem follows someone running away from people who are mourning, out to an open field where she can finally be alone. Lying there, she looks up at the stars, and one of them stands out as the brightest. It seems to look back at her with a warmth that reminds her of the eyes of the person she loved most. Her own eyes fill with tears.
The poem calls her a "hopeless child," which suggests how small and lost she feels. The poem never says who has died, but the "lamenting ones" and the final lines make loss the clear subject. The ending is quiet and tentative: "Perhaps he became a star, / But a beautiful one." That "perhaps" shows she isn't certain, and the "But" hints at a mix of sorrow and comfort. The mood is hushed, tender and sad, with a little light coming through at the end.