The speaker seems to go along, or else look further away waves of "brown" fog which come up to him. This is perhaps because the city air is so polluted. Twisted faces of depressed people pass by. A passerby has tears in the eyes. The speaker takes another glance and sees her dirty skirt. Another person comes up and tries to smile, but fails. The smile vanishes among the city roofs. All these disjointed images can be put together to build up a general picture of the poor people's plight. The focus is on poor servant girls whose souls themselves are "damp" (moist and dirt). The poet evokes our emotion without telling his emotions. He arouses pity without telling his pity for the people.