Fire and Ice
Fire and Ice
COMPREHENSION OF STANZAS
Read the following stanzas and answer the questions that follow :
STANZA 1
Some say the world will end in fire [H..B.S.E. March 2017 (Set-A)]
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
Questions :
(a) What do people think about the ending of the world?
(b) What is the poet’s opinion?
(c) What does ‘desire’ mean here?
(d) What is the rhyme scheme of this stanza?
(e) Name the poem and the poet.
Answers :
(a) Some people think that the world will end in fire. Others say that it will end in ice…
(b) The poet thinks it right that the world will end in fire.
(C) Here ‘desire’ means man’s passions and violence.
(d) The rhyme scheme of this stanza is a, b. a. a.
(e) Poem: Fire and Ice
Poet: Robert Frost
STANZA 2
But if it had to perish twice.
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Questions :
(a) What does ‘it’ refer to here?
(b) How is ‘ice’ sufficient for destruction?
(C) What is the main idea of these lines?
(d) What is ice a symbol Of?
(e) What Is the rhyme scheme of this stanza?
Answers :
(a) Here ‘it’ refers to the ‘world’.
(b) ‘Ice’ symbolises hatred. So hatred is sufficient for the world’s destruction.
(c) The main idea of these lines is that hatred can destroy the world.
(d) Ice is a symbol of hatred.
(e) The rhyme scheme of this stanza is ‘Ababa’.
Extract Based / comprehension test Questions and Answers of Fire and Ice
Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow.
1. Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
(a) What do people think of the world?
(b) What is the poet’s opinion about the world?
(c) Which two things will destroy the world?
(d) What is the prediction of the people about how the world will come to an end?
Ans. (a) The world will be destroyed with fire and ice.
(b) The poet thinks that we should check our growing desires and love our fellow-beings.
(c) Hatred and Desire.
(d) Some people say that the world will come to an end in a fire while others say it will come to an end
in ice.
2. But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
(a) Why does the poet feel that ‘ice’ is also great for destruction?
(b) What is the rhyme scheme of this stanza of the poem?
(c) The two things that the poet thinks are good enough for destruction are
(d) What does ‘it’ stand for in the first line?
Ans. (a) Ice equates with `hatred’, which is enough to destroy the world.
(b) a b a b a.
(c) fire and ice which means ‘hatred’ and `desire’
(d) `it’ here stands for the world.
1.There are many ideas about how the world will ‘end’. Do you think the world will end
some day? Have you ever thought what would happen if the sun got so hot that it ‘burst’,
or grew colder and colder?
Ans: Yes I believe that this world will end some but when nobody knows. Whether the sun gets
hot or it gets colder in both the situations end of this world is sure.
2. For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for? Here are some ideas:
Greed Avarice Cruelty Lust