The Imaginary Iceberg

“The Berg (A Dream)” by Herman Melville (1888)

Herman Melville is best known for his 1851 novel Moby-Dick. His poem “The Berg (A Dream)” is perhaps the most obvious predecessor to Bishop’s “The Imaginary Iceberg.” Both poems foreground the relationship between an iceberg and a passing ship, and both present the interaction as imaginary: In Melville’s poem, the encounter is framed as a dream. Besides these similarities, the two poets’ approaches are very different. Where Bishop favors metaphor and uses her iceberg to explore abstract concepts, Melville favors the physical and technical aspects of sailing.

“The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop (1946)

Another poem from Bishop’s 1946 collection North & South, “The Fish” showcases her ability to engage with and find hidden depths in otherwise commonplace objects. Like “The Imaginary Iceberg,” the speaker of “The Fish” begins on a boat in the water and examines the poem’s subject in the context of its larger environment. Unlike “The Imaginary Iceberg,” the speaker of “The Fish” engages with the real and physical sensation of catching a fish.

“The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket” by Robert Lowell (1947)

Robert Lowell was one of Bishop’s closest friends and contemporaries.