I see him always standing by, In the shadows, soon, or late, When the storm-swept winter sky Hides the joys for which I wait, When the sunlight stays my sigh, Always—he is standing by.
The speaker keeps seeing a figure who is always close at hand, "standing by." We never learn who he is, and the poem seems content to leave that open. He might be a loved one, a guardian, or something more ominous. What matters is that he turns up in every kind of weather. When winter storms hide the happiness the speaker is waiting for, he is there. When sunlight comes and eases her sigh, he is still there.
That steadiness is what makes the poem interesting. Because he appears in dark moments and bright ones alike, his presence can read as comfort, as quiet surveillance, or as both at once. The speaker's tone is calm and a little weary rather than frightened, and the short, even lines with their repeated "sigh" and "by" rhymes feel like a refrain she can't shake. The mood is hushed and patient, with a faint unease underneath.