The poem opens with a sense of reluctant duty: "we are obliged to answer a troll." The word "troll" could mean the online kind, the folktale creature, or both, and the title, "In bad faith," suggests this is someone who argues without honesty. What follows reads like scraps of that kind of talk, a passing remark that winter wasn't as bad as reported, a complaint that he never got the chance to speak his mind.
The images grow darker as the poem goes on. Late-night hours, a blurring of "right and wrong," and a fondness for "the gallows" suggest that this endless bickering isn't harmless. It seems to crave punishment and spectacle more than truth.
The speaker's tone feels weary and slightly wry, as if resigned to being dragged into pointless arguments. The mood is uneasy and bleak, and the fragmented lines, with their odd shifts, add to the feeling of a conversation that never quite makes sense.