The speaker seems to be a grave, or something close to one, speaking from beyond death. A man in black arrives, weeping, and the speaker wants to comfort him but can't move. He leaves blue roses on the speaker's "bed" and never comes back. The speaker sees a likeness: the flowers and the dead both wither and fade from the memories of the living, their blue turning gray over time.
The poem closes by echoing its opening. This time a black cloud arrives instead of a mourner, and rain pours down out of indifference rather than sorrow. The speaker begs it to stop, but the storm washes the flowers away.
The mood is mournful and lonely, with a quiet helplessness running through it. The speaker feels grateful for the visit, yet powerless and afraid of being forgotten. The repeated lines make the contrast sharp: a human's grief gives way to nature's cold indifference.