Where this song is placed on the album, and the album in general, I think is about a sort of soldier of fortune who in his youth falls in love with a girl, and before going off promises her great wealth when he returns. This song takes place years later, after he has been gone for a long time, and she has found someone else, had children of her own, and they have left her. This is her reflecting back on her life, and that soldier she fell in love with, and had attached feelings of excitement and adventure to. She is unaware that he never stopped loving her, and wanted to return, but, according to the final song, presumably died far away on another shore.
And yes, it is put before Iron to serve as a stark contrast of two worlds, the lover's, and the soldier's.
Where this song is placed on the album, and the album in general, I think is about a sort of soldier of fortune who in his youth falls in love with a girl, and before going off promises her great wealth when he returns. This song takes place years later, after he has been gone for a long time, and she has found someone else, had children of her own, and they have left her. This is her reflecting back on her life, and that soldier she fell in love with, and had attached feelings of excitement and adventure to. She is unaware that he never stopped loving her, and wanted to return, but, according to the final song, presumably died far away on another shore.
And yes, it is put before Iron to serve as a stark contrast of two worlds, the lover's, and the soldier's.