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I think this poem is about backstabbing and blind trust. The speaker is rather naive and trusts that no one will steer them wrong. They willingly go on the ice rather than trusting their instincts. They are a follower and when they have been lead wrong, they fall. The line "They say the ice will hold" signifies that the speaker is listening to what "they" said rather than making their own inference about it. The following line confirm this, as it says "so there I go", suggesting that all this person needs is the confirmation/encouragement from others to put their life at risk. I'm reminded of the sheep in Animal Farm with their blind trust that Napoleon would never steer them wrong. This naivety of the speaker also suggests that they are only concerned with other's opinions. The diction in the poem confirms this idea as the speaker continues on "coolly" as the ice begins to break. This gives the idea that the speaker would rather keep their dignity than their life, or that they want to keep trusting other's opinions than the truth right in front of them. I think the major literary devices to look in this piece are diction, syntax, and imagery.
I think this poem has a very large juxtaposition between trust and distrust. The speaker is very naïve and does not follow his own intuitions. The whole poem really reminded me of the Titanic, it was my first thought when I read it. I thought of the Titanic because the first line says “They say the ice will hold”. The whole Titanic feel really came from the first line and then going on saying how naturally the ice gaps open and it reminded me of the ice burg being hit and everything. Then at the end the speaker says, “Slide erectly into the water wearing my captains hat”. The captain of the Titanic went down with his ship as well. Anyway, I think the tone was very regretful in a sense. Not regretful as in “Oh no I never should have done that”, but a very somber, melancholy regret in his mind saying “I knew I should have listened to myself”. I think the speaker really was kind of a follower, because he was too scared that if he spoke up he would lose his spot on the ship. The poem had a lot of good parallelism, as well as alliteration. The first and second stanza is juxtaposition between trust and distrust. The first stanza talks about the speaker stepping out onto the ice that everyone said will hold. The second stanza is about the ice caving in, and him dying. The speaker has an allusion in the second to last line when he says, “Goodbye my darlings, goodbye my dear one”. The last line is very powerful. The speaker says, “The ice meets over my head with a click”. That is really the speaker’s downfall and his death. By saying the ice forms back over his head shows that the speaker is underwater and is now trapped by the ice. I think the allusion is referring to the ship because he says “my dear one”. I think the main literary devices are imagery, diction, and juxtaposition. -KATIE HARRIS
Definitely about betrayal. Very harsh poem. The speaker bets it all on getting across that ice, and dies for it. He's swallowed by the ice, which I would say is a metaphor for blind trust.
There is a sort of dark humor to the poem I would say, for example at the beginning of the stanza. "Naturally it gaps open." The way he uses "naturally" makes it sound like it was one of those "Should've seen that coming." Then he "slide[s] erectly into the water wearing [his] captain's helmet." The captain's helmet is this sort of authority. It grants him power. Makes him a hero, so he marches in like a hero and fails, looking like a fool. Finally, the ice closes over his head with a "click." A click is a very simple sound. He ends on no dramatic note, just a click.
For this poem, I'd look at...extended metaphor, imagery, and--ah...diction? Sure.
To me the poem is about the author accepting his faults. He knows that the ice will not hold but keeps a positive attitude as he goes head first into a dangerous situation that may take his life. The people say it will hold as they force him onto it. That action shows that they are trying to hide the danger of such an action even though they are aware of what is going to happen. The author must feel like an outcast and does whatever the people want just so he can please them and he is obligated to do so because he is guilty of something. However, he must accept his fate with pride which also relates to the "captain's helmet". The captain must go down with his ship so that's what it reminded me of.
This poem is definately about the speaker's naïveté. The entire poem is a metaphor for trusting others and being betrayed and hurt by that trust. Believing the ice will hold, the speaker, "steps out on it," but in the end the ice breaks apart and isn't there to hold the speaker. Metaphorically speaking, the speaker trusted someone who they thought they could believe, but they were betrayed and hurt in the end, as they shouldn't have trusted that person. I feel as though the tone is not depressed, but rather an epiphany, as the speaker has realized the reality of trust through experience. However, I don' tlike to use the word epiphany, because that makes it sound glorious and happy, which I doesn't fit the poem. The tone of the poem is somewhere in the middle between sad and happy, perhaps serious, like a wise elder reflecting back on when they learned about trust. I feel like what I just said makes no sense...but hopefully you get the idea of what I'm trying to say.
I have two interpretations...I hope that's alright. When I first read this poem I imagined a little child being dared by his friends, who claim that "the ice will hold", to walk out onto a frozen pond. He trusts his friends, but he risks falling through the thin ice. The speaker is "forced to carry on coolly" when he trusts the them, and is not on guard, like his role model, a captain, should be. The speaker foolishly puts trust in people who are distrustful. Like a child, the speaker says goodbye "with a sad smile" to his "darlings", which indicates that he thought they were special, and loved them, but was betrayed and figuratively drowned in that misplaced trust, with just a "click". I also see how this poem can be about a literal captain in the army who receives orders to set out on a assignment, that he should have known was dangerous and unnecessary, but forces himself to "carry on coolly" and ends up loosing his life, but "wearing his captain's hat" remains brave and strong in the end.
As everyone else has said...I think this poem is about being back stabbed. The author is told by his "friends" that the ice will not break if he walks across it. Unfortunately for him, it does. The speaker walks across the ice because he is "forced to believe by [his] act of trusting people." He says his trust is an act which shows he does not really trust anything anyone says. The speaker also seems to be used to being lied to and back stabbed. He says "naturally it gaps open" as if he was expecting for it to happen. He is then "forced to carry on cooly." He remains calm because of his imperturbability. His friends know that he is unable to become upset so they continue to exploit this characteristic by continually lying to him because they know they will not hurt his feelings.
Also, I thought the setting was incredibly important to this poem. The fact it took place on his adds to the harshness of the tone. What his friends did to him was "cold" and cruel. As he is sinking he says "goodbye my darlings, goodbye dear one," showing that he still cares for the people that just back stabbed him. Finally "the ice meets again over [his] head" which further shows that this is not a one time occurrence and will likely happen to him again.
8 comments:
Im not in AP but im sure you will be reading this and that is why I am commenting here
"This wire can cut through meat and bone easily"
I think this poem is about backstabbing and blind trust. The speaker is rather naive and trusts that no one will steer them wrong. They willingly go on the ice rather than trusting their instincts. They are a follower and when they have been lead wrong, they fall. The line "They say the ice will hold" signifies that the speaker is listening to what "they" said rather than making their own inference about it. The following line confirm this, as it says "so there I go", suggesting that all this person needs is the confirmation/encouragement from others to put their life at risk. I'm reminded of the sheep in Animal Farm with their blind trust that Napoleon would never steer them wrong. This naivety of the speaker also suggests that they are only concerned with other's opinions. The diction in the poem confirms this idea as the speaker continues on "coolly" as the ice begins to break. This gives the idea that the speaker would rather keep their dignity than their life, or that they want to keep trusting other's opinions than the truth right in front of them. I think the major literary devices to look in this piece are diction, syntax, and imagery.
I think this poem has a very large juxtaposition between trust and distrust. The speaker is very naïve and does not follow his own intuitions. The whole poem really reminded me of the Titanic, it was my first thought when I read it. I thought of the Titanic because the first line says “They say the ice will hold”. The whole Titanic feel really came from the first line and then going on saying how naturally the ice gaps open and it reminded me of the ice burg being hit and everything. Then at the end the speaker says, “Slide erectly into the water wearing my captains hat”. The captain of the Titanic went down with his ship as well. Anyway, I think the tone was very regretful in a sense. Not regretful as in “Oh no I never should have done that”, but a very somber, melancholy regret in his mind saying “I knew I should have listened to myself”. I think the speaker really was kind of a follower, because he was too scared that if he spoke up he would lose his spot on the ship. The poem had a lot of good parallelism, as well as alliteration. The first and second stanza is juxtaposition between trust and distrust. The first stanza talks about the speaker stepping out onto the ice that everyone said will hold. The second stanza is about the ice caving in, and him dying. The speaker has an allusion in the second to last line when he says, “Goodbye my darlings, goodbye my dear one”. The last line is very powerful. The speaker says, “The ice meets over my head with a click”. That is really the speaker’s downfall and his death. By saying the ice forms back over his head shows that the speaker is underwater and is now trapped by the ice. I think the allusion is referring to the ship because he says “my dear one”. I think the main literary devices are imagery, diction, and juxtaposition.
-KATIE HARRIS
Definitely about betrayal. Very harsh poem. The speaker bets it all on getting across that ice, and dies for it. He's swallowed by the ice, which I would say is a metaphor for blind trust.
There is a sort of dark humor to the poem I would say, for example at the beginning of the stanza. "Naturally it gaps open." The way he uses "naturally" makes it sound like it was one of those "Should've seen that coming." Then he "slide[s] erectly into the water wearing [his] captain's helmet." The captain's helmet is this sort of authority. It grants him power. Makes him a hero, so he marches in like a hero and fails, looking like a fool. Finally, the ice closes over his head with a "click." A click is a very simple sound. He ends on no dramatic note, just a click.
For this poem, I'd look at...extended metaphor, imagery, and--ah...diction? Sure.
To me the poem is about the author accepting his faults. He knows that the ice will not hold but keeps a positive attitude as he goes head first into a dangerous situation that may take his life. The people say it will hold as they force him onto it. That action shows that they are trying to hide the danger of such an action even though they are aware of what is going to happen. The author must feel like an outcast and does whatever the people want just so he can please them and he is obligated to do so because he is guilty of something. However, he must accept his fate with pride which also relates to the "captain's helmet". The captain must go down with his ship so that's what it reminded me of.
This poem is definately about the speaker's naïveté. The entire poem is a metaphor for trusting others and being betrayed and hurt by that trust. Believing the ice will hold, the speaker, "steps out on it," but in the end the ice breaks apart and isn't there to hold the speaker. Metaphorically speaking, the speaker trusted someone who they thought they could believe, but they were betrayed and hurt in the end, as they shouldn't have trusted that person. I feel as though the tone is not depressed, but rather an epiphany, as the speaker has realized the reality of trust through experience. However, I don' tlike to use the word epiphany, because that makes it sound glorious and happy, which I doesn't fit the poem. The tone of the poem is somewhere in the middle between sad and happy, perhaps serious, like a wise elder reflecting back on when they learned about trust. I feel like what I just said makes no sense...but hopefully you get the idea of what I'm trying to say.
I have two interpretations...I hope that's alright. When I first read this poem I imagined a little child being dared by his friends, who claim that "the ice will hold", to walk out onto a frozen pond. He trusts his friends, but he risks falling through the thin ice. The speaker is "forced to carry on coolly" when he trusts the them, and is not on guard, like his role model, a captain, should be. The speaker foolishly puts trust in people who are distrustful. Like a child, the speaker says goodbye "with a sad smile" to his "darlings", which indicates that he thought they were special, and loved them, but was betrayed and figuratively drowned in that misplaced trust, with just a "click".
I also see how this poem can be about a literal captain in the army who receives orders to set out on a assignment, that he should have known was dangerous and unnecessary, but forces himself to "carry on coolly" and ends up loosing his life, but "wearing his captain's hat" remains brave and strong in the end.
As everyone else has said...I think this poem is about being back stabbed. The author is told by his "friends" that the ice will not break if he walks across it. Unfortunately for him, it does. The speaker walks across the ice because he is "forced to believe by [his] act of trusting people." He says his trust is an act which shows he does not really trust anything anyone says. The speaker also seems to be used to being lied to and back stabbed. He says "naturally it gaps open" as if he was expecting for it to happen. He is then "forced to carry on cooly." He remains calm because of his imperturbability. His friends know that he is unable to become upset so they continue to exploit this characteristic by continually lying to him because they know they will not hurt his feelings.
Also, I thought the setting was incredibly important to this poem. The fact it took place on his adds to the harshness of the tone. What his friends did to him was "cold" and cruel. As he is sinking he says "goodbye my darlings, goodbye dear one," showing that he still cares for the people that just back stabbed him. Finally "the ice meets again over [his] head" which further shows that this is not a one time occurrence and will likely happen to him again.
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