Fire And Ice

BY ROBERT FROST

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

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.

Introduction

Fire and Ice by Robert Frost is a short, figurative and symbolic poem that
compares the scientific assumptions of his time and his own imaginations.
The poet talks about the discourse going on about which of the two things
i.e. fire and ice will destroy the world.
The Central Idea Of the Poem:
The poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost is about the hypothetical end of
the world, with the speaker asserting that it will be destroyed either
by fire or by ice. One could argue, though, that the central idea of
this poem is that fire and ice are equally destructive, in their own ways.
The central idea around which the entire poem revolves is that only love,
equality, mutual understanding and sympathy for one and all can help in
establishing peace on the Earth. The poet mentions that both fire and ice
are probable ends of this world. While he talks about how fire represents
desire and can, therefore, be a cause of the end of the world, he also
mentions ice in between to symbolize that the coldness and indifference
towards one another will also be enough to end the world.

Fire and Ice : Poem Meaning

For the poet, fire means the burning desire for the material things
and ice means coldness that emerges in humans because of the desires
and materialistic life. He finally concludes that both of these weapons are
equally dangerous and will lead the world towards destruction.

This short poem comprises of nine lines and has rhyme scheme aba abc
bcb. There are three sentences. In the first sentence, the poet explains the
popular debate that is prevailing in the society since long about what will
destroy the world.

In the second sentence, he metaphorically changes the discourse. Now fire

and ice mean something deeper and profound. in the final line, which is the
longest, he gives his own thoughts.

Part I

The poet begins the poem by narrating the popular and age-old debate
about the two things out of which one will destroy the world. These two
things are fire and ice.
Some scientists believe that it is the fire that will be responsible for the
destruction of the world. The fire here means the lave which is in the core
of the earth.People believe that someday, the earth will burst and there will
be huge explosions of fire that will burn the world and hence everything will
be destroyed.

The other belief is that it is the ice that will destroy the world. Now, ice may
refer to different things (as I have read different interpretations of this word
in various sites). First, ice probably refers to melting of glaciers and rising of
sea-level in which everything will sink.

However, this interpretation does not seem to be the exact meaning of

what Frost talks about. The other interpretation of ice is the entering of a
meteor or any other thing from the space which will stop the sunlight and
hence, there will be an ice age which will make the world perish.Whatever
the meanings of fire and ice are, the poet gives a popular assumption of his
time.

Part II

In the next line, the poet comes to his own interpretation of these two
terms. According to him, he has tasted desire and hence he is of the
thought that those who favour fire are right and he supports their view.

Desire is what led Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. It is
the desire which makes the people greedy, materialistic and deceitful.

It is the desire for power that led the deadliest wars, battles and cost
an uncountable loss of humans as well as other living things. Hence, for the
poet, the fire of desire will destroy the world.
Part III

But, the poet says that if the world were to destroy twice ice would also
have destroyed it. Ice, in the words of Frost, refers to coldness in the
relation. With the emergence of materialistic thoughts, emotions and
human warmness have vanished away.In the race of worldly things, people
have forgotten other humans and have started loving material things. Thus
for the poet, the hate which has emerged because of desire would also
have destroyed the world if it were had to perish twice.

Note how the poet has brought two different things together. Ice and fire
cannot be there at the same time. But for the poet, desire (fire) is what
leads to coldness (ice). Hence both will be there to destroy the world in the
future.

Summary And Analysis of the Poem

‘Fire And Ice’ is a short poem by Robert Frost. In this poem, the poet refers
to two predictions of how the world will end. He presents two opposite
views about the end of humanity and the world. He discusses these two
possibilities which will be the reason for the end of the world. One such
possibility is the world ending in flames of fire. It is so, because when he
ponders over the burning flames of desires of people. These will definitely
hurl the world into another nuclear war, and hence it will burn up the entire
world in flames. The second possibility for the end of the world is due to the
ice.

The poet has a strong feeling that people have so much hatred in their
hearts against each other that it will be sufficient to freeze the entire planet
towards death. So, the fire due to evil desires and ice of wicked hatred are
the two opposite opinions enough to destroy the world.
The poet is very much sure of the destruction of humanity on someday. He
is talking about the two different beliefs regarding the end of this world.
These are on the basis of the sayings of the people. The poet says that he
is in favour of those people who say this world will end in fire. This is
because he has seen the effect and result of uncontrolled and unending
desires over the life of human beings. He finds that human evil desires are
similar to the fire in its nature. So this fire may become a big reason to
destroy humankind and this world too.

On the other hand, the second belief in this regard says that ice is also
sufficient for destroying this world. Here the poet compares the nature of
ice with hatred feelings of humans with the other humans. As ice can make
the body numb with its prolonged contact, similarly hatred can also give the
numbness to our mind and thoughts. And hence it can make us insensitive
and cruel. Such cruelty towards humanity will be more responsible for the
destruction of the world compared to the desire.

The speaker brings us all into the middle of the argument between two
different categories of the people. One who thinks that the world will come
to a fiery end and other people who think the world will freeze resulting to
the end. Poet is possibly talking about the literal end of the world. But he is
also talking about the power that human beings have to destroy each other.

The poet experiences the romantic desire that he has taught the passion
for emotions like love and lust. These will probably have the power to turn
the earth into a big fireball. But he has also experienced the other extreme
side. This is about colder emotions like hate which have great destructive
power. It is a common fact that love gets all the publicity, whereas hate is
the silent killer. It may not have the same effect as the fireball ending, but it
will do the trick.
Key points

 The poem has been written symbolically.

 The poet says that there are mainly two opinions about the end of this
world, one by fire and another by ice.
 The symbols-‘Fire’ and ‘Ice’ have been used for human emotions like
desire and hatred respectively.
 As fire can spread very fast and cause a great destruction in no time
likewise our desires may also prove very destructive if they go out of
control.
 Hatred causes slow destruction like ice but it is also very harmful.

Analysis of Literary Devices in “Fire and Ice”

Robert Frost has used some literary devices in this poem. The analysis of
some of the literary devices used in this poem is given below:

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same

line such as the long sound of /o/ in “I hold with those who favor fire”.
2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the
same line such as the sound of /f/ in “I hold with those who favor fire”.
3. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving
their five senses. For example, “Some say the world will end in fire” and
“To say that for destruction ice, is also great”.
4. Symbolism: Symbolism is a use of symbols to signify ideas and
qualities, by giving them symbolic meanings different from their literal
meanings. “Fire” is the symbol of desires and “Ice” symbolizes hatred.
Similarly, “green” and “gold” are the symbol of beauty and happiness.
5. Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first
part of some verses. For example,

“Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.”
 6. Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate
objects. In this poem, “Fire” and “Ice” are capable of destruction.
Therefore, the poet personifies fire and ice by giving them a mind which
is capable of destroying almost anything.
7. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought or clause that does not come to
an end at a line break; rather, it moves over the next line. For example,

“From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.”

Conclusion :

The poem is revolving around the theme that human emotions are
destructive, and has two possible forms.

Short questions and answers

Q1: What are the two opinions discussed in the poem about the end of
this world?
A: The two opinions are that this world will end either in fire or in ice.

Q2: What does fire stand for in the poem?

A: Fire stands for desire as it spreads very fast if remains uncontrolled.

Q3: What does ice stand for in the poem?

A: Ice stands for hatred as both are same in nature, they make us
insensitive and rigid.

Textbook questions & answers

Q1: 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?
A: 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.

Q2: For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for? Here are some ideas:
# greed # avarice # cruelty # lust # conflict # fury # intolerance
# rigidity # insensitivity # coldness #indifference # hatred.
Ans.
FIRE: greed, avarice, lust, conflict, fury, intolerance.
ICE: cruelty, rigidity, insensitivity, coldness,indifference, hatred.

Q3: What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing
out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
A: The rhyme scheme of the poem is: aba, abc, bcb. The two
contrasting ideas fire andice are totally supported by the rhyme scheme of
the poem as different alphabets carry different ideas which are expressed
in the poem.The poet has presented two opposite views about the end of
the world. The poet discusses the two possibilities regarding the end of the
world. One possibilities is the world ending in flames of fire. The poet feels
so when he ponders over the burning flames of desires of people. These
desires for more money, more power, etc. will surely hurl the world into
another nuclear war, which will burn up the entire world in flames.
The second possibility of the doom of the world is with ice. The poet feels
people have so much of hatred in their hearts against one another that it is
sufficient to freeze the entire planet to death.

So, the fire of evil desires and ice of wicked hatred are the two
contradictory opinions presented in the poem Fire and Ice by Robert Frost.

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