After doing a bit of background research, I found that this poem was written for his first wife Emma, who suddenly died after she and Hardy grew further and further apart. The poem shows us the longing that Hardy had for his wife after she died, and how Hardy regretted not being able to come closer to her and say goodbye. It focuses on change; how a person can change and become a different person.
This links to the way Hardy has characterised Tess, in the sense that Alec has known Tess quite well form the beginning but now, she is a changed woman. Hardy has presented Alec as being a womaniser but perhaps now, he wants Alec to get to know Tess a bit better. The poem talks about what one would do if someone who used to close to them passed away, but in this case, we have to think about how Alec would react if Tess was to die.
The same assertive commands-"call to me"- appears again. Both Emma and Tess are the passive recipient, being ordered around, whether dead or alive.
The way that Hardy refers to Emma in the poem is very similar to how Alec thinks of Tess. Hardy calls Emma simply "woman" which shows how Hardy characterised Emma. He doesn't even give her a name, which makes her seem more of an object than someone who used to be close to him. In the same way, Alec characterised Tess as an object, something which he can adorn and look at. However, since Tess isn't dead yet in accordance to the poem, perhaps she is trying to say that she isn't an object any-more: she is a woman that now knows how to act for herself.
In terms of the setting, the poem is set out on a moor, where the wind blows a lot. This is very similar to the setting of Tess. That's all I've got.
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