The lateral vibrations caress me,
They leap and caress me,
They work pathetically in my favour,
They seek my financial good.

She of the spear stands present.
The gods of the underworld attend me, O Annubis,
These are they of thy company.
With a pathetic solicitude they attend me;
Undulant,
Their realm is the lateral courses.

Light!
I am up to follow thee, Pallas.
Up and out of their caresses.
You were gone up as a rocket,
Bending your passages from right to left and from left to right
In the flat projection of a spiral.
The gods of drugged sleep attend me,
Wishing me well;
I am up to follow thee, Pallas.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Ezra Pound's poem Before Sleep

4 Comments

  1. bev says:

    If this poem is meant to stir, which I think poems are.. well let me just say that /…. it left me flat.

  2. Sheryl Skoglund says:

    “The gods of the underworld attend me, O Annubis,”
    A·nu·bis   /əˈnubɪs, əˈnyu-/ [uh-noo-bis, uh-nyoo-]
    –noun Egyptian Religion .
    the god of tombs and weigher of the hearts of the dead: represented as having the head of a jackal.

  3. Sheryl Skoglund says:

    Also called Pallas Athena. Classical Mythology . Athena ( def. 1 ) .
    2. Astronomy . the second largest and one of the four brightest asteroids.

  4. Randy says:

    of course this is a vary well written poem!

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