The poem follows a young woman, named in the title as Emily, through a sexual assault. It opens with a question from the man, "Why do you frown?", which sounds casual but reads as dismissive, as if her feelings are his to manage. From there, her smile becomes the poem's central image. It falls, sinks, is stomped on and torn apart, and finally disappears "forevermore." Each step matches a worse moment: his approach, his touch, the removal of her dress, his leaving.
The speaker feels fear first, then helplessness and grief. Small details sharpen this. She shivers in mild summer air, and her tears mix with the salty sea air, which places the scene somewhere open and beautiful while the event itself is ugly.
The mood is bleak and quiet. The short closing words, "alone / cold / hurt / unsmiling," land like a series of blows, leaving only emptiness and the sense that something has been taken from her.