The speaker has just realised that someone once trusted is now a threat. The opening lines sound stunned: "I'd had no idea you'd be this way." The other person is pictured as a knight in "ungentle steel," smiling in a way that promises harm. The speaker blames themselves a little, admitting they gave this person every chance to "lash your tongue / And sharpen your sword," and that they stayed too long.
The imagery turns more frightening as the poem goes on. The stranger's eyes "glint like exhaled meteors," which is cold, bright and distant, like something burning out as it falls. Then come the hounds, barking and snapping, hungry for old wounds and eager to feed on fear. The speaker's reaction is quiet by comparison: "I know to turn away." The mood is tense and wary, mixing regret, fear and a firm decision to leave. Judging by the language, the speaker is hurt but not yet broken.