19 pages • 38 minutes read
Elizabeth BishopThe Imaginary Iceberg
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1946A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“The Berg (A Dream)” by Herman Melville (1888)
Herman Melville is best known for his 1851 novel Moby-Dick. His poem “The Berg (A Dream)” is perhaps the most obvious predecessor to Bishop’s “The Imaginary Iceberg.” Both poems foreground the relationship between an iceberg and a passing ship, and both present the interaction as imaginary: In Melville’s poem, the encounter is framed as a dream. Besides these similarities, the two poets’ approaches are very different. Where Bishop favors metaphor and uses her iceberg to explore abstract concepts, Melville favors the physical and technical aspects of sailing.
“The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop (1946)
Another poem from Bishop’s 1946 collection North & South, “The Fish” showcases her ability to engage with and find hidden depths in otherwise commonplace objects. Like “The Imaginary Iceberg,” the speaker of “The Fish” begins on a boat in the water and examines the poem’s subject in the context of its larger environment. Unlike “The Imaginary Iceberg,” the speaker of “The Fish” engages with the real and physical sensation of catching a fish.
“The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket” by Robert Lowell (1947)
Robert Lowell was one of Bishop’s closest friends and contemporaries. “The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket” was published in 1947, one year after Bishop’s “The Imaginary Iceberg” appeared in North & South. This poem, one of Lowell’s most famous, showcases how one of Bishop’s contemporaries grappled with the imagery of the Atlantic Ocean. Lowell’s form and style in “The Quaker Graveyard” is also a strong exemplar of the contemporary trends in American poetry toward long, historical verse.
“In the Waiting Room” by Elizabeth Bishop (1977)
“In the Waiting Room” is one of Bishop’s most famous poems, and is one of the few examples of Bishop’s autobiographical poetry. Like many of her other poems, this work involves the speaker engaging with a particular object—a National Geographic magazine. Other than this stylistic connection, “Waiting Room” is a unique poem that speaks to Bishop’s early childhood and to her breadth as a poet.
Further Literary Resources
“Review of On Elizabeth Bishop” by Eavan Boland (2005)
In this review of Colm Tóibín’s 2005 book On Elizabeth Bishop, critic Eavan Boland explores the impact and enduring influence of Bishop’s poetry. Boland places particular emphasis on Bishop’s ability to casually approach epiphany with descriptions of commonplace objects. Boland also makes note of Bishop’s tendencies toward group revelations, such as the one at the end of “The Imaginary Iceberg.”
“Elizabeth Bishop and Modern American Poetry” by Jonathan Ellis (2005)
Johnathan Ellis’s article on Bishop and her contemporary post-war American poets provides perspective on Bishop’s role and influence in the broader canon of American poetry. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Bishop’s reputation continued to rise after her death, and Ellis explores the possible reasons and theories behind this phenomenon. Though scholarly, Ellis’s article provides an accessible account of Bishop’s reception in the larger field of American poetry.
“Masses of Beautiful Alabaster” by Marissa Grunes (2017)
Marissa Grunes’s “Masses of Beautiful Alabaster” provides a poetic history of icebergs. Particularly focusing on the work of American writers and artists, Grunes starts with accounts of icebergs from Captain James Cook’s 1773 expedition and progresses to modern to the time of the article’s publication.
“The Durable Art of Elizabeth Bishop” by David Mason (2020)
Bishop was the subject of many critical reevaluations in the first decades of the 21st century. In this article, reviewer David Mason adds his opinion as to why Bishop has outlasted so many of her contemporaries. Mason cites Bishop’s ability to create original, self-effacing works of art as on the key elements of her literary legacy.
Listen to Poem
Despite this reading’s impromptu camera work, David Hart provides a precise and articulate reading of Bishop’s poem. Hart’s droning delivery carries vowels the same way Bishop does in many recorded readings of her other works.
Related Titles
By Elizabeth Bishop
