Antartica (for Richard Ryan) by Derek Mahon

‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’
The others nod, pretending not to know.
At the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime.

He leaves them reading and begins to climb,
goading his ghost into the howling snow;
he is just going outside and may be some time.

The tent recedes beneath its crust of rime
and frostbite is replaced by vertigo:
at the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime.

Need we consider it some sort of crime,
this numb self-sacrifice of the weakest? No,
he is just going outside and may be some time

in fact, for ever. Solitary enzyme,
though the night yield no glimmer there will glow,
at the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime.

He takes leave of the earthly pantomime
quietly, knowing it is time to go.
‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’
At the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime.

Theme(s)

• Isolation
• Acceptance
• History
• Loyalty
• Compassion
• Self-sacrifice
• Honour
• Nature

Poetic Techniques

• Assonance
• Alliteration
• Repetition
• Metaphor

Rhyme + Structure

• Villanelle (5 stanzas made of 3 lines + 1 of lines + 2 refrains)
• Rhyme Scheme: aba aba aba aba abaa

Tone + Mood

• Sombre
• Solemn
• Compassionate
• Empathetic
• Heroic
• Cowardice
• Brave
• Fragility of humanity against nature

Imagery

• Solitary figure against white snow
• Tent crowded with men blizzard howling outside
• Man taunting death

Symbolism

• Enzyme - Oates not changing but the reason why others change
• Pantomime - life