The speaker of this poem is someone standing on the edges of a thoroughfare, most likely a woman, watching a group of young men leave for battle. They express trepidation and a world-weary hindsight towards the enthusiastic soldiers, who have no idea what’s coming to them. Although the speaker understands the gravity of a seemingly lighthearted situation, they are powerless to stop the boys from going. This gives the speaker a tragic sense of prophecy, similar to Cassandra of Greek myth.