Sleep
In the first line of the second stanza, the speaker promises to wait for his beloved, “asleep.” In this context, sleepsimply symbolizes the eternal darkness of death.
Wheat
The second line of the poem features imagery which many find confusing: “the wheat of your beloved hands.” Wheat in poetry often connects to bread and the symbolism of that food item being “the staff of life.” With that in mind, the wheat reference here likely intended as a commentary upon metaphorical resurrection.
Wind, Sea, and Sand
In the second stanza, the speaker informs his beloved of the things he wants her to continue after his death: hearing the wind, smelling the sea, and walking on the sand. These are all things they have done together during life and his desire for her continue to doing these things collective make up the central symbol of the poem as they represent things which the two did together. This makes them a symbol of their love and union. That he is urging her to continue doing these things make them collective a symbol of his grander love that exists apart from the petty possessiveness of mere romantic bonding.
Flowering
The language that closes the fourth stanza—“go on flowering, flowery one”—is another metaphor for a love that moves beyond possessiveness. Flowering symbolizes continued growth in this sense, not simply a single flower growing into something beautiful. His beloved is the single flower in this symbolic sense, but he wants her to know he does not expect her to wither herself simply as a result of his own death,
Shadow
In the poem’s penultimate line, the speaker creates an imager of his shadow passing through his beloved’s hair. This is also not meant to be taken literally even in the metaphorical sense. He is not suggesting that he will lurk like a shadow over in a possessive haunting sense. The key point of the imager is that shadow passes through hair—so quickly as likely to be unseen, but only vaguely sensed—as an occasionally reminder of good times that keeps him alive, but not an oppressive memory.
