Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In Ezra Pound's poem "Sub Mare," the speaker delves into the complexities of emotion and perception, portraying an emotional state that is simultaneously concrete and elusive. The poem exudes an enigmatic tone, opening with a phrase that paradoxically states, "It is, and is not, I am sane enough." Here, the speaker alludes to a kind of duality or contradiction, suggesting that what they feel or perceive both exists and doesn't exist. This sets the stage for a journey through a mysterious emotional landscape.

The arrival of an unidentified "you" transforms the space around the speaker, evoking a realm "built of autumn roses." Autumn roses, beautiful yet fleeting, symbolize a transient beauty or emotion that now colors the speaker's world. The use of the term "fabrication" implies a created, perhaps illusory, reality, hinting at the tenuousness of this emotional state. There's also a shift in color, identified as "goldish," which differs from the rest, indicating a change or complexity within the emotional fabric of the speaker's world.

The metaphor of "delicate/Algae reach up and out, beneath/Pale slow green surgings of the underwave," brilliantly captures the intricate nuances of feelings or thoughts that one struggles to articulate. Just like algae floating in the depths, beneath the surface of conscious awareness ("underwave"), these emotions are elusive, hardly ever fully understood or easily categorized. These feelings are depicted as ancient, "older than the names they have," suggesting that they tap into something universal or archetypal, perhaps even primordial.

Finally, the phrase "these things that are familiars of the god" invokes the concept of divine or cosmic understanding. "Familiars" typically refers to spirits or entities that assist witches or magicians. Here, they symbolize elements or aspects of life that are close to divine understanding but are not fully comprehended by mere mortals. This concept adds another layer to the poem, hinting at a spiritual dimension or a form of enlightenment that the speaker either seeks or is in the presence of.

The submerged or "Sub Mare" setting of the poem acts as a potent metaphor for the subconscious, for emotional depths that are often turbulent and always shifting. Like the underwater realm, the emotional state the speaker describes is both real and dreamlike, a fusion of perception and illusion.

Pound's poem functions as an exploration of the ambiguity and fluidity of human emotions, particularly those catalyzed by another person's presence. Through beautifully wrought metaphors and a sense of mystical questioning, the poem offers a compelling glimpse into the ineffable qualities of emotional and perhaps even spiritual experience.

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