O you who turn the wheel and look to windward, Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.
A note to sailors journeying across the sea, and a central message/theme for the reader to interpret Potentially a message to communicate a lesson, appreciate the time you spend alive and in your prime/youth because there will only be one opportunity to experience mortality/life
He passed the stages of his age and youth Entering the whirlpool.
The age of Phlebas is left to interpretation, though the implication of "stages of his age" inclines me to assume he was well into adulthood Though I assume Phlebas had lived quite a long life, an outside reflection compares the passage of time to a "whirlpool" which implies vast speed with no pause until the disappearance/end In retrospect, the time an individual spends alive is extremely minimal when compared to the longevity of death/sensory oblivion
Picked his bones in whispers.
Phlebas' body is torn apart by the perpetual current and the remains are consumed by unnamed marine species Though the imagery is gruesome and dark, the author uses subtle language like "whispers" to describe the peace of silence
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell And the profit and loss.
Mortal worries and perceptions have become distant or even meaningless as they are forgotten to time Loud noises (cry of gulls), money and economics (profit), loss (grief and sadness) are overtaken by the swelling waves
a fortnight dead,
Phlebas has been dead for 14 days (2 weeks), the poem encapsulates the process of bodily decomposition overtime through a flowing narrative
Death by Water
Title provides context for the reader to interpret the poem's story, Phlebas has drowned presumably in the ocean prior to the beginning of the poem/story