Told in the voice of someone who loves a quiet, shadowy figure and fails to save him, the poem moves from watching to mourning. At first the speaker observes a dark-haired man on a rocking ship at night, always lingering at a distance. The speaker clearly cares for him but never says so. As the days go by, he seems more restless and haunted by nightmares, and his silence says more than words could.
The speaker keeps asking what they can do, and the answer seems to be only "fix things," which makes the title, "Fix You," feel painfully fitting. Then the poem turns sharply. The man is gone, and the speaker is left with blood on their hands and the regret of arriving too late. The mood is heavy and tender, full of helplessness and guilt. The final line, "Rest easy, my love," reads as a quiet farewell, the only comfort left to give.