The poem is a small, quiet picture of someone crying. Tears are never named. Instead they become "petals of the sea," drifting down a woman's cheeks and leaving "silver footprints," as if grief were something delicate that walks across her skin. The sea suggests how deep and large the feeling is, while petals make it soft and almost beautiful.
The tears then fall onto her breasts, and the poem calls them "cold kisses after death." That phrase suggests a loss has already happened, and the tears are the last, chilly tenderness left behind. The speaker watches from outside, describing her gently rather than explaining her pain. The repeated line "After sorrow" opens and closes the poem, which could mean the worst has passed and only the aftermath remains. The mood is hushed, sad, and strangely still, with a cold beauty in the images.