Short answer: a confusing something and a confused something are similar, and closely related, but not necessarily the same.
Let's try a simpler verb: interesting--interested. There are 3 people in this example, A, B, and C. Suppose that,
A interests B. -- Let's say that A successfully gets B's attention by making himself or herself look interesting. We can say that, B finds A interesting.
C may observe that,
- A is an interesting person (to B), and
- B is the interested person.
C may or may not think that B is interesting. However, if C thinks that the fact that B is interested in A makes B interesting, C may think that B is interesting, too, which in turn makes C think that,
- B is the interested person, and
- B is an interesting person.
In this case (to C), B is both interesting and interested.
The same applies to confusing and confused in your question.
When we say or write confusing ideas, we mean that to us, the ideas are confusing, and we look at it from our point of view. We feel that they are "confusing". To us, it's difficult to understand.
When we say or write confused ideas, we mean that the ideas are confused. They are not well organized or explained. We may say that the person who states the ideas "confuse" them, and as a result, the ideas are not clear or not easy to understand.
Thus, a confusing something may not be confused.
And a confused something may not be confusing, either.
In short, they're similar, and closely related, but not necessarily the same.
It means that a person's eyes are filling up with tears, and the tears are about to spill out. In other words, the person is about to cry.
"Eyes tear up" has the same meaning, but it's not as flowery.
Best Answer
The answer to your direct question is figurative.
Additionally, I'd like to address your understanding of steam in the sentence that you provided. Its literal meaning is actually being applied in that sentence; it's just a different meaning than the one you found. The meaning of steam in that sentence is "verb 3. (of a ship or train) travel somewhere under steam power." So the sentence "We steamed south" has the meaning, "We traveled south on a steam-powered ship."