Iceberg As Metaphor For Life Essay, Research Paper

The poem ” The Iceberg” by Sir Charles G.D. Roberts was written in 1931 when Roberts was 71 years old. When one is amidst old age a person tends to reflect on life. Experience of the past come to mind and you begin to reflect more on birth and death. This poem is an interpretation of Roberts’s reflection on life and death and his course throughout life.

The poem “The Iceberg” is a metaphor for life, it is the voice of something that has approached the end and is facing death with the peacefulness of calm waters but with the forcefulness of a massive iceberg. What makes the poem more personal is that it is written in free verse. Free verse is known as “open form” verse. It is printed in short lines rather than continuity of prose, it differs because its rhythmic pattern is not organized into meter. Most free verse also has irregular line lengths and lacks rhythm1, all of which this poem possesses. Writing the poem in free verse allowed the poet to express himself fully and without any limitations. This coincides with the poem being written in the modernist period, which was first and foremost an era in which all traditionalist literary forms of the 19th century were abandoned.

Roberts had many philosophical influences and they are clearly seen in his poetry. The iceberg can represent the human consciousness and the three levels (id, ego and the super ego) which in psychology are often put into a iceberg like diagram. Throughout the poem the reader should realize that the iceberg is a metaphor for life and the human form. Essentially we are like the iceberg in which only the tip is showing. Therefore the iceberg in the poem becomes a human life form and is personified in that it is able to think and speak on a human level.

“The Iceberg” leads the reader through the road of life, its very much like a map outlining the many hardships and stages the human form and psyche will go through . The poem is most of all a reflection of Roberts coming to terms with the possibility of death and the memories of childhood and birth. The poem starts with the birth of the iceberg as it is “spawned” from something larger. This alludes to us as human beings being spawned from our mothers and the thrusting forth to something new and undiscovered. Much like the iceberg we travel through life seeing the world around us. Although there may be beauty in sight we tend to put blinders on and focus only on what lies ahead rather than live in the present. In the fifth stanza the iceberg begins to describe its long journey and the sights and sounds that it experiences. The iceberg describes everything with virgin eyes, much like a child who looks at the world in wonder as it discovers all that surrounds him.. In turn this fifth stanza is the iceberg’s description of the journey of life that for it has just begun. It goes on to describe itself as “an Alp alfoat”, this image alludes to the magnificent scenery seen in the mountains but it also describes the greatness of the growing iceberg. Mountains are great symbols of strength and tranquility and so the iceberg relates with the mountains. This can be personified by relating it to a child that is ever growing and coming to the realization that adulthood is very near. Although the chaos surrounds the iceberg it describes itself as “Mild featured, innocent eyed and unforeknowing” in line 77. Eventually, the iceberg begins to leave childhood behind and sees the world and water surrounding him differently.

An important line in the poem that exemplifies Roberts technique in personifying the iceberg is when the iceberg says ” Here, by the deep conflicting currents drawn, I hung, and swung”. This is a very critical point in the poem because like a human the iceberg must decide which way to go on his journey or in out case, life. Like life, fate in the form of a strong wind steps in and makes the decision for the iceberg directing it in the path that will lead him toward his future, the iceberg is now able to see himself as “a soaring miracle”. This also alludes to a person discovering who he they are and what his purpose in life is because for a brief moment the iceberg sees himself as the greatest miracle.

Slowly as the iceberg’s journey and life continues forth it comes to realize its own mortality. The iceberg faces death and is able to realize that all in life must eventually end, this is seen in the line where the iceberg says that he has “a casual expectancy of death”. Like a person he begins to become aware of what lies ahead in his life and the journey that has brought him so much understanding must end. In the last stanzas of the poem one can see that age and therefore death are fast approaching. Waves crash over the iceberg rather than against him, this image can allude to the elderly in that they are often overlooked. At most times it is the most wise person that will be overlooked.