Poetry · Chapter
Mr. Apollinax explained
The speaker reflects on Mr.
What happens
The speaker reflects on Mr. Apollinax's visit to the United States, contrasting his wild, mythic laughter and profound presence with the shallow, conventional reactions of the society hostesses and academics who entertain him.
Themes in this chapter
Alienation and Isolation
Apollinax's submarine, profound laughter and the image of drowned men drifting in green silence evoke a sense of isolation beneath the surface of polite society.
Fragmentation and Modernity
The poem juxtaposes mythic figures (Fragilion, Priapus, centaurs) with modern teacups and academic chatter, highlighting the fragmentation of contemporary experience.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Apollinax
The central figure of the poem, whose laughter and talk disrupt the teacup society.
- Unknown Narrator
The observer who recalls Apollinax's visit and the reactions of those present.
Key passages
“His laughter tinkled among the teacups.”
His laugh was a light, jarring sound in the refined setting of a tea party.
Contrasts Apollinax's wildness with the polite, contained atmosphere.
“His laughter was submarine and profound / Like the old man of the sea’s / Hidden under coral islands / Where worried bodies of drowned men drift down in the green silence.”
His laugh was deep and hidden, like a sea god's, in a silent underwater world where drowned men float.
Evokes a sense of depth, mystery, and death beneath the surface.
“I looked for the head of Mr. Apollinax rolling under a chair / Or grinning over a screen / With seaweed in its hair.”
I imagined his severed head rolling under furniture or grinning from behind a screen, adorned with seaweed.
Surreal image suggesting Apollinax's disruptive, almost monstrous otherness.
“I heard the beat of centaur’s hoofs over the hard turf / As his dry and passionate talk devoured the afternoon.”
His intense, intellectual conversation consumed the afternoon, sounding like the galloping of a centaur.
Blends mythic imagery with the force of his speech.
“Of dowager Mrs. Phlaccus, and Professor and Mrs. Cheetah / I remember a slice of lemon, and a bitten macaroon.”
All I recall of those society figures is a lemon slice and a half-eaten cookie.
Highlights the triviality of the host and hostess compared to Apollinax's memorable presence.