This Is The Dark Time My Love

Let's begin by
taking the poem piece by piece in order to figure out what it means:

"This is the Dark Time, My Love" --we can learn
a lot by looking at the titles to poems.  "Dark Time" has the implication of danger,
or trouble.  "My love" lets us know that the poem is addressing someone.

This is the dark time, my love, 
All round the
land brown beetles crawl about 
The shining sun is hidden in the sky 
Red
flowers bend their heads in awful sorrow 

--Okay, the
narrator is addressing someone he (or she) loves, letting that person know that times are
difficult.  The images given are probably not meant to be taken literally.  Brown Beetles
crawling about (could be a reference to crop eating bugs...symbolic of destruction) and the sun
his hidden in the sky (the sun being a sign of light and hope, its being hidden can imply that
evil or danger is at hand.)  Lastly, the red flowers bend their heads toward the ground (another
sign of sadness, of despair.)

This is the dark time, my
love, 
It is the season of oppression, dark metal, and tears. 
It is the
festival of guns, the carnival of misery 
Everywhere the faces of men are strained and
anxious

--Here the phrase is repeated about "dark
time, my love."  This is probably done for rhythmic appeal and to reinforce the idea that
the narrator is speaking to someone in particular. The second line alludes to great hostility,
with being "oppressed."  "Dark metal" probably is a reference to weaponry,
and tears, well, you know what they are.  Line four contrasts "festival" with
"guns" and "carnival" with "misery."  These comparisons are the
opposite of what most people would think of when thinking about a carnival or festival.  That's
what makes them stand out.  The last line shows the strain that the times are putting on
people.

Who comes walking in the dark night
time? 
Whose boot of steel tramps down the slender grass 
It is the man of
death, my love, the stranger invader 
Watching you sleep and aiming at your
dream.

--These references seem to be military in nature...the idea that
some invading army is approaching.  Steel boots could be a reference to armor, or steel
reinforced ones.  Notice the way they trample the grass, another thing symbolic of (like the
beetles) something natural and good being destroyed by something alien and unnatural.
 "Watching you sleep and aiming at your dreams."  Again, another military-style image,
as in taking aim with a weapon.  The narrator appears to be describing the way that the invader
is destroying the person's chances at happiness and a normal life. Hope this helps!