Poem:             "On the Ice Islands Seen Floating in the German Ocean"

Poet:               William Cowper

Presenter:      Kelly Tumy

Recorder:       Tara Gray

I.                     William Cowper—(1731-1800)—Background Information

A.     Mental instability

--1763 collapse in the House of Lords

--Left London to love in the country

--1773, sickness returned after living with a “gloomy, pious man”, John Newton.  Although there was and unhealthy relationship, the two did write poetry together.

B.     Poetry

--1785—published The Task, exhausted him as a poet

--Went to work on translations

--Wrote short occasional pieces in 1791 and 1796

II.                  Poem: On the Ice Islands Seen Floating in the German Ocean

A.     Devices—Cowper’s use of short, choppy lines conveyed his emotional rapture at the sight of the ice islands.  It is as if he were almost drunk with words.  Ice is personified throughout the poem and almost comes to life as in line 2 “the astonished tide.”  He makes heavy use of allusion—line 31 “the rest is ice” a reference to Hamlet “The rest is silence.”  In lines 52-53 the references to Delos and Apollo, later in line 62 to Phoebus.

B.     Content/Form—The poem is comprised of one long stanza, almost narratively lyric at times.  It mixes modes of poetry.  The slant rhyme throughout is sparse (lines 5-6; lines 21-22; lines 25-26; lines 37-38; lines 45-46) all stick out as oddities since the rest of the poem rhymes.  It signals the uncertainty of the speaker’s future along with the image the ice berg itself.  We do not see the whole truth in that iceberg as 90% of it is under water.  We see a “slant” of the whole idea.

C.    Themes—Trouble amid tranquility?

D.    Discussion questions

1.       What kinds of turmoil are present in the poem?

Class response:  Sees the icebergs as evil, rebukes them, but also sees them as beautiful.  Odd self-identification attracted as well as repulsed by the ice.  Sees ice as a reminder of winter or bleakness, bad times.  Icebergs take their light from something else, unlike gems with light of their own.  This is similar to Cowper—his “light” is borrowed, produces little of his own work.  his religious sensibility is that he is one of the damned, and shines only with the light of God.

2.      How does the poet convey the struggle to the reader?

Class Response:  Through the imagery, the choices of one long stanza and multiple allusions to people who have struggled.  It is a successful conveyance.

3.      How does this poem mirror the Garrard and Scott readings?

Class Response: They had similar struggles although much more physical.  They never would have let anyone see this emotional a side.