Which of the following describes the function of the phrase "a monument of ice” (line 32)?

stanza: Beauty and whimsey are discouraged as indiscreet.

Unbreakable as their climate, a monument of ice,

they issue serious statements, commemorating

factories, tramways and aeroplanes;

athletes marbled into statues.

They turn their noses upon the world, these countries,

and offer this: an unrelenting procession

of a grim, historic profile.

to imply that some countries put on a facade

to contrast with the “portraits of progress” of developing countries

to illustrate that developed countries have more robust arts

to suggest that the countries in question are large and cold

to reinforce the image of certain countries as “bleak and stark”