Lines 1-6:
The opening stanza of six lines revolves around the central image of the river-merchant and his wife during their childhood, emphasized by the initial depiction of a young girl with bangs. In ancient Chinese culture, adult women were characterized by elaborate hairstyles featuring long, uncut hair.

Each line enhances the central image of the children. The word "playing" is repeated in three different lines to describe the little girl at the front gate, the boy on stilts, and his movements around her, highlighting the innocent and content nature of their activities. The references to "flowers" and "blue plums" further connect them to the natural world.

This stanza introduces the presence of "I" and "you" within the poem's world.

Lines 7-10:
The second stanza transitions the girl and boy, the "I" and "you," into their adult roles as woman and man. In ancient and even some modern cultures, early marriages are common, and wives often address their husbands with respectful titles. In this poem, the formality of the title is softened by the direct use of "you" immediately following it.

Lines 8-9 depict the young wife's shyness in this formal adult setting, illustrated by her lowered head and averted eyes, indicating she is too shy to respond to her husband, regardless of his efforts.

Lines 11-14:
This stanza focuses on the growing love between the young couple. While the first stanza shows the girl with childhood bangs, the second stanza portrays her with an averted, unsmiling face. By the third stanza, she "stops scowling," reflecting the development of her feelings.

The marriage vows, "till death us do part," are evoked in lines 12 and 13, and the sentiment is deeply reinforced by the triple repetition of "forever" in line 13.

It is ambiguous whether "climb the lookout" in line 14 refers to a cultural ritual performed by a widow, possibly to seek new marriage prospects. If it is, it signifies that the widow has no desire to engage in this ritual, indicating her profound love for her deceased husband.

Lines 15-18:
These lines introduce an image of separation as the husband assumes his role as a river-merchant, traveling across waters to distant islands for his work.

The wife's statement about the duration of her husband's absence is delivered in a single line, giving it strong and emphatic emphasis. In line 18, the impact of this prolonged separation is fully captured through the natural imagery of the monkeys' sounds, which echo her own sorrow. Although the sounds monkeys make are typically perceived as cheerful chirping, the wife's overwhelming grief transforms them into "sorrowful" noises.

Lines 19-21:
The initial three lines of this concluding 11-line stanza focus on the river-merchant's absence. Line 19 reveals that he was equally distressed by the separation. In line 20, the phrase "by the gate" (possibly the same gate from their childhood play) suggests she has returned to this spot and envisions him reluctantly departing again. For her, this gate symbolizes the start of his absence. She is notably familiar with this scene: not only has moss grown there, but she also recognizes various types of mosses that she hasn't cleared since he left. Now, they are too thick to remove.

Lines 22-25:
In line 22, the river-merchant's wife's sadness is once again mirrored by the natural world, through the falling autumn leaves and wind. This imagery is further elaborated with her observation of the butterflies in the garden, which are "paired" unlike her, and turning "yellow," changing with the season and growing older together.

The butterflies "hurt" her because they highlight the pain of realizing she is aging alone, without her husband.

Lines 26-29:
In the closing lines of the poem and the "letter," the river-merchant's wife reaches out from her solitary world of sorrow to her husband with a direct plea: Please inform me of your return and the route you will take, so I can come to meet you. This request carries more significance than it initially seems. Her village is a suburb of Nanking, and she is prepared to walk several hundred miles upstream to a beach to reunite with her husband, so profound is her desire to bridge the gap between them.