English translations of many poems have been included in order to better differentiate between words either Celan himself coined or that he extracted from technical dictionaries. One of the most frequent is his use of glacial imagery. Literary critics have not examined this image extensively, especially in connection with his language and religion. For Celan, glaciers, together with snow and ice, are not simply large ice masses they represent an even greater idea. These word groupings suggest a more positive and optimistic tone than what critics sometimes infer from his lyrical poetry.
Glaciers become positive physical images in both literature and religion.
Most critics regard Celan's use of snow and ice as representing silence, specifically silence as it relates to death. This thesis, however, examines Celan's glacial images as portraying language. They provide the framework in which he embodies speech and verbal communication. The many layers of a glacier as well as its inner composition, its physical properties, and outward appearance all add to these images of language. The snow and ice within a glacier also play an integral part in Celan's poetry.