The poem’s primary thematic concern is the effects of aging—specifically, aging as a woman. The first two lines describe the three societally expected roles of women: mother, wife, and sex object. However, this woman is “[a]lready […] no longer looked at” (Line 1). As she ages, the woman disappears from sight. She’s even “put [...] away” (Line 2) like the childhood toys of her grown children. Her “husband and lovers” (Line 4) are only “pleasant or somewhat polite” (Line 4)—in other words, not passionate—now that she is no longer young.

Once these prescribed roles disappear for a woman as she ages, society leaves her no clear purpose; these roles are limited to the youthful. The rest of the poem focuses only on the absences in the speaker’s life. She is “summer-gone” (Line 10), without a “warm house / That is fitted with [her] need” (Lines 15-16), and “dusty” (Line 19) from no longer moving. Her new life is now nothing but “echoes” (Line 18) and “intimations” (Line 21). The speaker feels that her life is empty now.

Still, the speaker is not completely bitter about aging, as it does provide “dear relief” (Line 22) from societal expectations and the male gaze. While aging does make her life a “[d]esert” (Line 22), it also gives her a moment of peace.