Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Robert Penn Warren's "Empire" traverses the historical arcs of conquest and exploration, while grappling with the tension between past imperial ambitions and the modern perspective of detachment and alienation from those ambitions. The poem takes the reader through the ages, moving from the Phoenician and Greek explorations of the Mediterranean, to the conquests of Julius Caesar, the journeys of Christopher Columbus, and the ventures of Henry Hudson. Warren uses these historical figures to meditate on the cyclical nature of empire-building and the human yearning for discovery, juxtaposing the grandiosity of imperial ambition with the inherent futility and eventual dissolution of these endeavors.

The poem opens with a vivid image of the "Phoenician galley and the sweating slave," an allusion to the ancient Mediterranean world and the human toil that fueled the expansion of early empires. The heat of the sun and the beating of the oars set the stage for the relentless movement of history. As these ancient mariners pass Carthage, they sail toward the "Pillars of Hercules," a gateway to the unknown—a metaphor for the eternal lure of the horizon and the desire to push beyond the known world. The repeated references to Carthage, Phoenician and Greek sailors, and the Pillars of Hercules (modern-day Gibraltar) evoke the sense of mythic exploration, as men ventured westward into the Atlantic in search of new lands.

However, Warren subtly undermines the grandeur of these early explorers by asserting, "Not the beginning, not the end." The poem hints at the limited knowledge of these sailors, who "did not know that land and ocean bend / downward to make the long circuit home." Their voyages, while ambitious, were incomplete—they lacked the understanding of the world’s roundness, symbolizing the inevitable failure of even the most daring endeavors to grasp the full scope of existence. This same limitation applies to Julius Caesar, whose bold crossing of the English Channel—described in the poem’s central image of the Roman emperor leaping the prow with "mad tired eyes"—is portrayed as an act of hubris. Caesar, fixated on conquest, "saw not the long way home, / the world that closes like a tired closed hand." The simile of the world closing like a hand underscores the ultimate futility of empire-building, as the forces of time and nature will eventually contract and erase the achievements of even the most powerful rulers.

Warren then shifts to the "others" who came after Caesar, namely Christopher Columbus ("the man from Genoa") and Henry Hudson. Columbus, whose ship "Santa Maria" is described as "O white and virginal," is presented as a figure of naiveté and optimism, driven by the dream of reaching India by sailing west. The "incredible shore" where Columbus lands is imagined as a place of purity and wonder, but Warren’s choice of the word "virginal" also carries a sense of illusion—the untouched land will soon be ravaged by the forces of colonization. Hudson, similarly, is described as pursuing the "passage to India" through frozen coasts, his quest ultimately doomed. The mention of "icicles in his beard" emphasizes the cold, inhospitable conditions these explorers faced, and the echo of the word "India" highlights the disconnection between their dreams and the reality of their discoveries. The explorers' hunger and cold become metaphors for their insatiable ambition and their ultimate failure, as their blood is spilled "in vagrant westward gold"—a reference to the futile search for wealth and glory in the New World.

As the poem progresses, Warren introduces a modern perspective, addressing the "single-hearted and horizon-sick" explorers directly. The speaker declares, "we own no kin with you," emphasizing a disconnect between the present and the past. The imperial ambitions of these explorers are portrayed as "certain, lost," suggesting that while their paths were clear and determined, they ultimately led to failure. The speaker dismisses the explorers' legacy, asserting that "the quick lack commerce with the dead," suggesting that the living have moved beyond the ambitions and delusions of the past. History, in this sense, is "commensurate, unnamed"—the great figures of the past are now anonymous, their achievements reduced to the dust of history.

However, the speaker then turns to address a different figure—"you other," described as a "Bastard to memory" and "my spotless white new lamb." This figure, born "of no sin, born to no wrath, no home, no repentance," represents a break from the past, unburdened by the legacy of empire and conquest. The "spotless white new lamb" may symbolize innocence or a new beginning, untainted by the historical bloodshed and exploitation that characterized earlier empires.

In the poem's closing lines, Warren shifts to a more personal and reflective tone, inviting the reader to "follow" down "the path / down through the dunes" to the beach. The land-wind lifts, and the cicada’s song fades as night approaches, creating a quiet, contemplative scene. The speaker expresses a desire to "understand each other" while observing "the foam in calyx on the patient sand." The image of the foam forming in the shape of a calyx—a flower’s protective cup—suggests a sense of fragility and transience, as the waves break gently on the shore. The "patient sand" further emphasizes the passage of time, as the ocean continues its eternal rhythms, indifferent to the human endeavors that once sought to dominate it.

Warren’s "Empire" is ultimately a meditation on the futility of human ambition, particularly the imperial ambitions that have shaped much of world history. Through the lens of historical exploration, the poem examines the cyclical nature of conquest and the inevitable erasure of even the most powerful empires. The poem’s closing image of the ocean and the sand, along with its reflective tone, suggest that peace and understanding lie not in the pursuit of power or glory, but in the acceptance of the world’s natural rhythms and the quiet contemplation of one’s place within it.

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