Thesceneisacottageona”bittercoastofFrance”。
I。`JamesLee’sWifespeaksattheWindow’——Thefirstmisgivingsofherheartareexpressed；andthesemisgivingsarerespondedtobytheouterworld。Summerhasstopped。Willthesummerofherhusband’slovestoptoo，andbesucceededbycheerlesswinter?
Therevoltofherheartagainstsuchathoughtisexpressedinthethirdstanza。
II。`BytheFireside’——Herethefaintlyindefinitemisgivingexpressedinthefirstsoliloquyhasbecomeagloomyforebodingofill；”theheartshrinksandcloses，erethestrokeofdoomhasattainedit。”
Thefireonthehearthisbuiltofshipwreckwood，whichtellsofa”dimdeadwoebefallenthisbittercoastofFrance”，andomenstoherforebodinghearttheshipwreckoftheirhome。