In just four short lines, the poem turns a star into something unsettling. We usually think of stars as distant, gentle and silvery, but here the star is "hard and gold," like a piece of metal, and it "follows us." That small word "us" suggests the speaker isn't alone, though the star's attention feels shared rather than comforting.
The most striking moment is the word "hissing." Stars are silent, so giving this one a sound makes it feel almost like a snake or a warning, something alive and slightly threatening. The final line places this noise inside the speaker's sleep, which suggests the star has slipped into dreams, a place where it can't be shut out.
The speaker never says "I'm afraid," but the mood is uneasy and hypnotic. Something beautiful has become persistent and intrusive. The poem leaves open what the star stands for: it could be a memory, a fear, or a desire that keeps coming back.