In just four lines, the speaker describes a life of uncertainty and wariness. The first two lines set up a traveler who drinks something without knowing what it is. That could be literal, a drink taken on the road, but it also suggests someone moving through life and taking in experiences, ideas, or beliefs without fully understanding them. The traveler is open to the world, yet also in the dark about it.
Then the poem turns to a sharp image: a fox spending the whole night afraid of being seen. The speaker seems to compare themselves to this animal, or to see it as another side of the same self. The fox is hidden, alert, and tense, so the feeling shifts from curious wandering to quiet fear.
The title, "Homily," usually means a short sermon, so the poem reads like a tiny lesson. Yet it offers no clear moral, only an admission of not knowing. The mood is hushed, anxious, and a little lonely, with a sense of moving through the dark and staying out of sight.