The poem’s four stanzas follow the speaker’s reaction as she watches her beloved enjoying an exchange with a man. The first stanza introduces the reader to the three characters present in the poem and establishes the man as a rival for the attention of the speaker’s beloved; as he takes a position near the object of the speaker’s affection, the speaker compares him to the all-powerful collective of gods and finds him to be “equal” (Line 1) to them, which suggests that she, the speaker, falls short somehow. This comparison sets the lamenting tone of the poem as the speaker establishes herself as inferior to the nameless man who is her competitor for the attention of her beloved.

As the man listens closely to the speaker’s beloved, the speaker falls silent, suddenly rendered voiceless by her jealousy and insecurity. Ironically, however, the speaker recovers her voice by writing the poem and documenting her experience of jealousy in vivid detail. The first stanza sets the scene: The man sits “so close” (Line 2) to the speaker’s beloved, whose “lilting voice / And lovely laughter” (Lines 4-5) suggest she is pleased to receive the man’s attention.