The speaker is uncertain whether their inability to feel cheerful without consuming alcohol stems from a weakness of the mind or a state of complete helplessness. They state that they can never get into the right mood without drinking.

The poet questions the very nature of his overwhelming passion. He struggles to determine if the intensity of his feelings is a personal weakness or an irresistible compulsion. He realizes that his love is so profound that he cannot achieve the intoxication of life's 'color' (the state of being in love) unless he first consumes the essence of the beloved. It is a beautiful depiction of the necessary, overwhelming nature of true passion.