The speaker is alone, listening to the natural world and trying to decide how hopeful to be. A wren, a tiny bird, offers only "small hopes," a modest kind of comfort. Then the sea, heard but not necessarily seen, seems to promise something bigger: "a prophesy of love." The sound of waves becomes a sign that something good may still be coming.
The poem doesn't stay purely optimistic, though. The speaker sums up life, or perhaps the day, as having "some parts very good" and "others devilish," a plain, almost shrugging honesty about mixed experience. The final lines, "and me alone / with the world," could feel lonely, but they also sound open and unguarded, as if the speaker is simply facing everything as it is.
The Latin title, which means "In this hope I live," fits that tone. The mood is quiet, humble, and reflective. Hope here is not loud or certain. It is something small that the speaker holds onto while listening.