A central theme of the poem is the need for repentance. The speaker directly addresses her lover, asking him to repent. Yet Rossetti also uses this poem to persuade the reader to repent. For Rossetti, repentance was a possibility for all, as repentance only requires a sincere plea for forgiveness followed by a change in actions to turn away from continuing to live in sin. Then, a person is permitted to enter heaven upon death.

As Rossetti believed the stakes were high, her mission was urgent. Human life, she frequently states, is short and uncertain. If people delay, they may never have the chance to repent and will then spend an eternity in hell.

Rossetti acknowledges the difficulties in repenting. Her speaker frequently expresses her reluctance to fully commit to her faith and her difficulty in changing her actions. It takes divine intervention through a troubling set of dreams to convince the speaker. Rossetti uses these dreams to inspire her audience via the speaker’s extreme duress and emotions.