The Ostinato

I realized today that I've been trying to write poems that have a clear surface that is mostly sensory, and then a lower level that's emotional. Without really defining it, I've been thinking of that emotional tug as an ostinato (a repeated musical phrase, usually somewhat urgent, under the melody), and also as a tidal pull or undertow, a current below the surface of water. Is that a way to be emotional but not sentimental?