19 pages 38 minutes read

Elizabeth Bishop

The Imaginary Iceberg

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1946

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Themes

Travel and Imagination

“The Imaginary Iceberg” navigates the tensions between travel and the imagination. Some conventional notions of travel depict it as a source of inspiration, or as something that allows an individual to see the world in new ways. Bishop draws upon these connotations by setting her poem on a ship in the midst of a journey. As a practical vehicle for ocean travel, the ship represents the motion and the process of travel. Ships do not stay in the ocean, but travel from port to port. The imagined iceberg, by contrast, represents stability in the shifting ocean (See: Symbols & Motifs).

The poem’s opening line, “We’d rather have the iceberg than the ship” (Line 1), establishes that the iceberg and the ship exist in tension with one another, which is largely the result of the ship’s essential relationship with travel and the iceberg’s “stock-still[ness]” (Line 3). One cannot engage with the iceberg—or with their imagination—without participating in such a stillness. Embracing stillness to explore the imagination means that “The ship’s ignored” (Line 12).

The speaker is in an either/or relationship with both the iceberg and the ship. The speaker explores the iceberg at depth once “the ship’s sails [are] laid upon the sea” (Line 7) and the ship has come to a stop.

Related Titles

By Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

A Miracle for Breakfast

Elizabeth Bishop

A Miracle for Breakfast

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

Arrival at Santos

Elizabeth Bishop

Arrival at Santos

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

Crusoe in England

Elizabeth Bishop

Crusoe in England

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

Exchanging Hats

Elizabeth Bishop

Exchanging Hats

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

First Death in Nova Scotia

Elizabeth Bishop

First Death in Nova Scotia

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

Five Flights Up

Elizabeth Bishop

Five Flights Up

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

Insomnia

Elizabeth Bishop

Insomnia

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

Sandpiper

Elizabeth Bishop

Sandpiper

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

Sestina

Elizabeth Bishop

Sestina

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

The Armadillo

Elizabeth Bishop

The Armadillo

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

The Fish

Elizabeth Bishop

The Fish

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

The Moose

Elizabeth Bishop

The Moose

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

The Mountain

Elizabeth Bishop

The Mountain

Elizabeth Bishop

Study Guide

logo

The Shampoo

Elizabeth Bishop

The Shampoo

Elizabeth Bishop