The poem takes place in an imaginary ruined setting inspired by the city of Rhodes, where a great statue of a god once stood. The speaker spends the poem on and around a fallen statue, caring for it during the day and falling asleep inside its ear at night. Around them is a clear blue sky and “a hill of black cypress” (Line 19). Although there is a real black cypress tree (callitris endlicheri), it’s only found in Australia and is unlikely the source of inspiration for this poem; this line more likely refers to trees which are in shadow or create shadow with their foliage. The ruined temple, and its openness juxtaposed against its shadow, serves to convey the loneliness, futility, and devastation of the speaker’s limited existence.