Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poem is narrated by a first-person-narrator.
Form and Meter
The poem consists of 3 stanzas of differing length, with no consequent rhyme scheme.
Metaphors and Similes
There are no metaphors or similes in the poem.
Alliteration and Assonance
Alliteration:
l. 2: "standards set"
l. 3: "madness mere"
l. 11: "slenderest shaft"
l. 12: "glass-green gorges"
l. 15: "stunned ship"
l. 18: "fowl the floes"
l. 33: "lumbering lubbard loitering"
l. 36: "stir the slimy slug that sprawls"
Assonance:
l. 2: "brave apparel"
Irony
The poem describes a ship crashing into an iceberg and sinking as a result. Ironically, the poem focuses entirely on the damage that the iceberg suffered (which was minimal) instead of the ship (which suffered fatal damages).
Genre
The poem can be considered an ode to the iceberg.
Setting
The time is not specifically stated, though the speaker mentions birds in the sky and seals napping on the iceberg, which implies a day time setting. The place is somewhere at sea, though the existence of the iceberg implies a colder climate.
Tone
The tone of the poem is serious and dark.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the poem is the titular (ice-) berg. The antagonist, the ship, foolishly crashes into it and is sunk as a result, dealing only light damage to the iceberg.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the poem happens in the first stanza, when the ship hits the iceberg. The attitude of the speaker towards the ship implies that it hit the iceberg out of foolishness.
Climax
There is no climax in the poem.
Foreshadowing
In line 3 the narrator states that the ship crashed into the iceberg as if it was steered "by madness mere". This foreshadows the attitude of the speaker towards the foolish ship and the majestic iceberg.
Understatement
There are no instances of understatement in the poem.
Allusions
There are no instances of allusions in the poem.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Synecdoche:
l. 17: "one snow-flanked peak"
another iceberg in a distance
l. 22: "by waves"
by the ocean
Personification
The poem personifies both the iceberg and the ship.
l. 5: "the infatuate ship"
l. 15: "the stunned ship"
l. 27: "The impetuous ship"
Hyperbole
In lines 6-8 the speaker describes the falling pieces of ice from the iceberg as an "avalanche".
Onomatopoeia
There are no instances of onomatopoeia in the poem.
