By saying that sentence in the beginning of the speech, President Johnson adheres to stop United states' involvement at the War in Vietnam . He believed that the war in was and unwinnable cost and we loss a great deal amount more than we would gain in the war
The speaker sounds disappointed, as he was so close to finally grasping but they keep leaving him. It also says he chases them madly but is unable to catch them. Showing disappoint in himself.