The speaker looks back on a restless life of moving between places and wonders whether it's finally time to commit to one. The first lines sound almost casual: an "intimate discourse" with "three or four lands" suggests close, conversational acquaintance with several places, as if each had been a companion to talk with. Nothing is said about leaving them, but the title, "Settling down," hints that something is about to change.
Then the poem turns to a question, though it has no question mark. The speaker asks whether they will ever be "wholly prepared" to take "just one particular ground." The repeated phrases, "set things in order" and "get things in order," feel like someone circling the decision, putting off the moment. The small word "just" carries a lot of weight, as though choosing one place means giving up all the others.
The mood is thoughtful and a little uncertain, mixing fondness for the past with hesitation about the future.