The title is a Latin phrase usually translated as "Oh, the times! Oh, the customs!", a traditional cry of complaint about a society that has lost its way. The poem's two short pieces fit that tone. In the first, patient, long-range planning has been dropped, and the lottery, a chance at sudden luck, has taken its place. It reads like a quiet diagnosis of a culture that would rather gamble than build for the future.
The second part turns into a question: will the road and the light "come again to be ash"? The word "again" suggests something has already been lost or burned once before, and the speaker fears it could happen a second time. Road and light stand for direction and clarity, the things that let us move forward and see where we're going. The speaker sounds uneasy rather than angry, and the mood is bleak and watchful. With so few words and no answer to the question, the poem leaves the worry hanging, which makes it feel more unsettling.