The speaker/narrator traverses a number of different moods in the memories he invokes and the story he tells. At first, he experiences a kind of unclouded happiness as he describes a walk he once took in the summer, perhaps typical of many such walks. He is away from his home environment and out in nature, camping in the hills. He appears to be alone and enjoying the solitude. He takes time to appreciate nature, and the phrase “deep bronze glories” (Line 6), about the sunset, suggests a fitting end to a rich and rewarding day. Any perceived glory, however, is soon to be obliterated, as the beauty of nature and the fond memory from childhood (Stanza 2) give way to the ugliness of human evil. Happiness withers away and horror takes its place. Although the events the speaker recounts also played out in summer, the season has lost all the charm it earlier had. August 5, 1942 was a midsummer day—like the day in Stanza 1—but it was marked by oppressive heat: “It was the morning and very hot” (Line 14), which is reemphasized in Line 29: “The quite extraordinary heat of the day” (Line 29).

The reversal from happiness to dismay and horror can also be seen in one of the key end-words: “meal.