"All her bright golden hair
Tarnished with rust,"
These lines draw a stark contrast between life and death. When his sister lived, her hair were golden and beautiful, and now, as she is buried under the ground, they have become tainted with rust. This also points to the ephemerality of man. The sister, who was once full of life, is now buried in a coffin, without any remains in the living world.
"Lily-like, white as snow,
She hardly knew
She was a woman, so
Sweetly she grew."
These lines use literary devices like simile, alliteration, assonance, and anaphora to invoke vivid imagery of how the sister used to be when she was alive. The poet also comments on her innocence (symbolized by white), as she was unaware of her own growth, even though she was in full bloom.
"I vex my heart alone,
She is at rest."
In these lines, the poet draws a contrast between the living and dead. The sister is now at rest, while the poet suffers due to the death of his sister. The sister is at peace, and perhaps white has been used to signify that peace.
