The speaker remembers standing once at the edge of the world with her Love. The image is dreamlike: an opal sea, a ship hanging in space, and no living creatures except the two of them and one white bird. It felt enormous, still, and almost unreal — a moment so perfect and isolated that trying to describe it now feels like a stifled cry.
Back in the valley, life is warm and busy, full of blossoming trees, bees, gardens, and people. But the speaker finds this small green world heavy and suffocating. The friendly, crowded valley only makes her feel how far she is from that wonderful, lonely day. The poem creates a wistful, nostalgic mood, caught between a radiant memory and the sweetness that can also feel like a cage.