The Imaginary Iceberg

The ship is foremost a symbol of motion and travel. Without a ship, the speaker is unable to navigate the ocean’s “shifting stage” (Line 23) and view the imaginary iceberg. The poem presents the ship as primarily a vehicle—in every sense of the word. The ship is intrinsically tied to travel and the practical concerns it entails. The poem opens by establishing this connection. The speaker states that taking the iceberg over the ship “meant the end of travel” (Line 2).

The ship inverts the old trope that the journey is more valuable than the destination. Compared to the iceberg, the ship and its concerns are “artlessly rhetorical” (Line 17), or a simple means to a practical end. That does not mean that the ship is worthless. It is a necessary part of the experience of the iceberg, and takes the speaker to “where waves give in to one another’s waves” (Line 30). On the journey’s return, the ship is a conduit for the communication and shared experience that allows every passenger a common voice in the poem’s speaker.