Stanza One
An unidentified speaker describes the gravesite of an unidentified girl. At the top of the grave just above where her chest would lie beneath, someone has placed two white roses. A white candle sits at the head of the grave and another white candle is placed at the feet. The speaker refers to the girl metaphorically as a "Dark Madonna" who has been found by "Lord Death." This metaphorical description of the figure representing mortality is said to have found the girl sweet.
Stanza Two
The speaker asserts that the girl's mother pawned her own wedding ring to raise funds. She has used this money to buy a beautiful white dress for her daughter to be buried in. The speaker then enters the mind of someone to convey thoughts. The only identification of whose thoughts are being shared is the pronoun "she" and this female is said to be thinking that the girl in the grave would be so proud to see herself dressed in white that she would dance and sing to herself all night. This use of pronouns allows the identification of whose thoughts are being read by the speaker to remain ambiguous. The final two lines of the poem could be expressing the mother's expectations that her daughter would be proud. At the same time, however, these could also possibly be the thoughts of the dead girl herself expressing a joyous pride at the scene of her gravesite.
