How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
For three years, out of key with his time,
He strove to resuscitate the dead art
Of poetry (1-3)
Right off the bat, it looks like this poem is going to describe to us how its main character tried his best to make poetry relevant to the modern world. The fact that this effort only lasted for three years, though, probably suggests that it was an unsuccessful attempt.
Quote #2
No, hardly but, seeing he had been born
In a half savage country, out of date (5-6)
Huey didn't have the easiest path toward creating or finding beautiful art. After all, he was born in the "half savage" country of America, a country that according to Pound was filled with greedy businesspeople who wanted nothing to do with art or high culture.
Quote #3
Unaffected by 'the march of events,'
He passed from men's memory in l'an trentiesme
De son eage; the case presents
No adjunct to the Muses' diadem (17-20)
Huey was never one to go with the flow of history or the "march of events." He was always more of an individual who cared about stuff that was nearly older than history itself, like beauty. But unfortunately, people didn't seem to care about him after he passed age 30. Worse yet, there's nothing really all that glorious about his story, so we might all start wondering sooner or later why we're reading about him at all.
Quote #4
And give up verse, my boy.
There's nothing in it (164-165)
When Huey goes to meet the super-rich novelist named Mr. Nixon, he hears a really painful piece of advice. He should give up writing "verse" or poetry because there's no way he'll ever make money off it. And for Mr. Nixon, this is as good as saying that poetry is completely worthless.
Quote #5
Drifted…. Drifted precipitate,
Asking time to be rid of….
Of his bewilderment; to designate
His new found orchid (267-270)
When Mauberley stopped chasing girls and actually tried to get his life together, he found himself "drifting" because he wasn't sure what he was looking for. He kept hoping that time would heal all wounds and that he'd eventually figure out what he should dedicate his life to. But the answer didn't come as quickly as he'd hoped.