Chanson Du Champ Profond. (Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker

This poem was written and published in Antarctica in January,1998. Manhire visited Antarctica as a member of ' New Zealand's Artists to Antarctica Programme' the previous year. He wrote the poem from that first-hand experience. I doubt if any other artists wrote as well about Antarctica as Bill Manhire did.
Places in Antarctica come up in the poem: Lake Bonney, McMurdo, the
Capes, Evans Royds and Bird. Shackleton and Scott were British explorers of the early twentieth century. Shackleton and his party got close to reaching the South Pole, but had to turn back. Robert Scott and some of his party did reach the South Pole in 1912, but perished from the cold on the return journey to the base depot. Scott and Shackleton are considered heroes of polar exploration. The first man to reach the South Pole was Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian, just a few weeks before Scott. Amundsen was another great explorer of both the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
The poem gets much of its appeal from the repetition of 'Patch me', which means 'connect me', 'put me through' (use of telephones) .
Then he wants to return to Lake Bonnet where the ice on the lake 'might be Paradise'. A very strong ending, it jolts you out of just routine reading, as 'Patch me' does.
Because of this, and other poems, I agree with this opinion on the back cover of 'Bill Manhire. Selected Poems':
'There can be little doubt of Bill Manhire's stature among contemporary New Zealand poets. He is the best'.- Alan Riach, Sunday Star Times.