But he could do little for them; and now he is gone."
If, when hearing that I have been stilled at last, they stand at the door,
Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees,
Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more,
"He was one who had an eye for such mysteries"?
And will any say when my bell of quittance is heard in the gloom,
And a crossing breeze cuts a pause in its out-rollings,
Till they rise again, as they were a new bell's boom,
"He hears it not now, but used to notice such things"?
The narrator's concern for his place in people's memories after his death largely appears to be based on their (and potentially his) observations of the mysteries and beauty of nature. The title of the poem "Afterwards" seems at first glance to simply imply the period of time after his death, treating death euphemistically, that is; however, it could cleverly conceal a pun. Hardy could be hinting that he wants to be remembered "after words" - that in this case, have to do with the observation and enjoyment of nature.
There is a cyclical structure to the poem, with the stanzas progressing from spring to winter to spring again. This cyclical structure could well reflect the cyclical nature of the speaker's own thoughts of how he'd like to be remembered.
In the first stanza, Hardy evokes spring through the mention of the "May month" and "glad green leaves" - words and the season associated with brightness, vitality, and happiness. The speaker essentially wonders if brightness, vitality, and happiness is what will be remembered of him.
In the second stanza, a sense of sharpness, keenness, and contained, but fierce energy is created in the description of the "dewfall-hawk" swooping "like an eyelid's soundless blink." The fact that this observation is made during dusk adds an effect of mystery on the scene, and the speaker once more wonders if these qualities are those that will be remembered of him when he has passed.
Summer is explored, "mothy and warm" in the third stanza. Hardy could be playing with words in mentioning the hedgehog travelling "furtively over the lawn" -- hedgehogs are *hardy* creatures after all. The use of the word "furtive" seems to imply a sense of insecurity of being viewed negatively after he is dead, along with a slight justification that if ever he was furtive, it was part of the nature of being hardy.
The fourth stanza sees the speaker potentially being associated with the connotations of winter after his death, but not negatively. "Full-starred heavens" is a phrase that is rich , breathtaking, and spiritual - Hardy has turned the usually negative connotations of winter (and thus the speaker's self) towards connotations of mystery and spritualism.
Although the speaker seems on the surface to wonder *when* he will pass, the fact that his stanzas return to the season he began with thus exposes the real purpose of the poem, which is the exploration of what qualities he will exactly be remembered for after he is dead.