The speaker wakes up on what feels like an ordinary morning, only to be hit by loss. Someone important has died, or is dying, and the poem reads partly as a tribute. The "you" is praised as steady and real in a world of dreams, someone who carried the weight of others and "kept us aloft." The speaker admits they can't match what this person achieved, which adds a note of humility and guilt.
The title's question mark matters. The line "Morning has broken? So why am I still asleep?" shows the speaker unsure what is real, and the ending twists the poem: they wake in a sweat, thrown out of a "hellish dream," still hearing the other person's "perishing screams." It's unclear whether the loss is real or only a nightmare, and that uncertainty is the point. The short, broken lines feel shaky and numb. The mood is mournful, anxious, and helpless, with a quiet, solemn toast the only ritual of comfort.