The unique stories of Approaching Ice

As I read Elizabeth Bradfield's APPROACHING ICE, I really picked up on the diversity of people represented. Granted, each was some sort of polar explorer, yet each seemed to represent a different outlook (which I think served to comment on everyday life...more on that in a moment). Bradfield addresses the social and psychological consequences of the utter, inescapable isolation that comes from inhabiting the poles of the world.

Because of the unforgiving nature of polar latitudes, the tones of many of Bradfield's poems tend to be rather grim and foreboding. "In the Polar Regions" describes the bleak isolation: "long-churned distance to any news of home, any first born or failing parent" and "it all goes to slush...the knack for conversation". Those who explored the Poles were completely cut off from the rest of the world. There was no way to commnunicate with their families, and even worse, teams were so isolated together that they ran out of conversation, creating even more isolation. "Against Solitude" goes on to show what can happen in this isolation: married people are driven to adultry even when the other person would not be attractive to them in any other situation. Isolation and solitude are shown here to be devastating.

"Polar Autumn" just reminded me of a really tragic case of Seasonal Affective Disorder. The poem was about how the sun doesn't shine in Polar latitudes during their winter season. "Dove wing sky, unshadowed land--or perhaps, rather than unshadowed, all blurred to shade." Bradfield implies that even the romantics, the believers, the optimists (?) turn into robots driven only by routine, by "obligation". I did like, however, the poem "Why They Went". It seemed to be the antithesis to "Polar Autumn". I love the line "Always back to Eden--to the time when we knew with certainty that something watched and loved us." This line is loaded! The biblical reference implies that Antarctica is Heaven, and compares how God endlessly watched over to Adam and Even to how the sun endlessly watches over the speaker. This is the POLAR (get it?!) opposite to "Polar Autumn", where the sun is tragically going down for the entire winter. I love the opposition, and it's interesting to see a positive side. Bradfield does a great job of balancing the good and the bad regarding the icy poles.

"Song of the Ice Breaker Prow" is another positive point of view of a Polar explorer. The tone of the poem is triumphant as the speaker dominates the thick, treturous ice. "I've crashed floes thicker than a horse's chest, pushed aside challengers to my strong stem, forced myself through as a knife, ravager." Not gonna lie, it was nice to read about someone who domineered the Antarctic rather than the many who were decimated by it.

I thought Bradfield made her poetry even stronger by enlisting the stories of real people. All of the "Polar Explorer (insert name here) (insert date here)" poems were based on real explorers. Each of their stories gave a different perpective, which I thought was so interesting and important to legitimizing her poetry. It was interesting to read about how Dumont d'Urville had taken the famous Venus statue and how he named the Adelie Land after his wife because he felt guilt about neglecting her and their son. In "Against Solitude" the reader sees how the need for warmth and human contact drive people to adultry. I love how these poems begin to comment not only on the stories that are literally at hand, but also on everyday life situations. The hints are very subtle, and I'm sure there are many allusions sprinkled in APPROACHING ICE that I completely missed! But Bradfield does a great job at using the Polar explorers the exemplify more than just themselves.

There was a line in "Why Shackleton" that I feel summed up the point of the entire book: "How do the trials of our lives compare?" Really, when I compare my trials to the ones described in APPROACHING ICE, there is no comparison. Even right down to every time I complain about the cold weather here in Maine! There's just no comparison. Like I was saying earlier, I think Bradfield does a wonderful job in sewing in allusions to our normal, nonPolar lives through telling the incredible stories of Polar Explorers. I can't begin to spectulate what her commentary is meant to say to the reader, but a lot of what I got out of APPROACHING ICE is that isolation and solitude are the worst possible situations for a human being to be stuck in. Poems like "They Called it Nukey-Poo" and "Grim Place for Ponies" really show the unbelievable struggle one faces in the arctic/antarctic and it gives such unique perspectives on life. They defintely put my personal struggles to a shame, and I shall definitely bite my tongue the next time I think to complain"It's SO cold".