The poem opens on a quiet, foggy meadow in a mountain hollow, then turns toward something more uneasy. The speaker uses "we," and the group seems to be holding back private grief before mourning turns into mere conformity, a show everyone performs. From there the poem looks back at youthful energy, the "headlonging rush of young buds," and then compares people to invasive weeds, freed from native limits and spreading across the earth, planting flags as they go. That image suggests a critical view of expansion and the confidence that drives it.
The ending shifts to a small-town football game, with marching bands trying their best and rival teams smashing together. The last image, a mascot sitting with his feathered head in his hands, is sad and a little comic. The mood is wistful and ironic. The poem seems to suggest that, out on the edge of things, even our rituals of pride and belonging can't quite cover the sorrow underneath.