Polar Corona by Caroline Gill, a winner of the Hedgehong Poetry Prize, is a crown (corona) of seven interlinked sonnets about Antarctic exploration and penguins. The last line of each sonnet becomes the first line of the next sonnet and the last line of the final sonnet is also the first line of the first sonnet, connecting the whole sequence together and underlining the interconnectedness of life at the Antarctic.
The sonnets display not only well crafted rhthm and rhymes (often half-rhyme) but also occasional effective alliteration:
a wilderness of wind upon a chart,
a sea of storms to keep the watch alert,
a yard of graves to mark the men who died.
from Crown.
The sonnets about the penguins are particularly appealing. Often I can imagine them being spoken by David Attenborough over documentary footage:
The youngsters need to eat to fill out fast;
they peck and jostle for each scrap of food.
Survival instincts may resemble greed,
but soon the time will come to quit the nest.
from Birth
The sonnets here were inspired by a poetry course / residency at the Scott Polar Research Institute and Polar Museum in Cambridge, England. The result is a beautifully produced book containing well crafted poetry that shines a light on the southern-most part of our world.
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Polar Corona by Caroline Gill, published (2025) by Hedgehog Poetry Press
To order a signed or unsigned print copy please contact Caroline.
Further details and purchase of eBook only: Hedgehog Press.
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