Fire and Ice

Fire and ice
by Robert Frost
About the Author
• Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. His
work was initially published in England before it was published in America. Known
for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial
speech. Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New England in the
early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical
themes.
• Frost was honoured frequently during his lifetime and is the only poet to receive
four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He became one of America's rare "public literary
figures, almost an artistic institution." He was awarded the Congressional Gold
Medal in 1960 for his poetic works. On July 22, 1961, Frost was named poet
laureate of Vermont.
When and why was Fire and Ice
writtten?
• According to one of Frost's biographers, "Fire and Ice" was
inspired by a passage in Canto 32 of Dante's Inferno, in
which the worst offenders of hell, the traitors, are submerged
in "a lake bound with ice. It is also said that the poem was
inspired by the prominent astronomer Harlow Shapley. Once
when Frost asked Shapley how the world is supposed to end,
he replied that either the sun will explode and incinerate the
Earth, or the Earth will somehow escape this fate only to end
up slowly freezing in deep space. Surprisingly, the very next
year Frost published his poem, ‘Fire and Ice’.
Theand
Fire poem
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 favour 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.
Summary of the poem
• The poem is a debate among the people about the end of the
world. Some say that it will be consumed by fire while others
believe that earth will experience ice age. According to the poet
it will be consumed by fire.
Here the poet has metaphorically represented fire and ice as the
strong emotions of people. He symbolizes fire with the
uncontrollable desires of men such as avarice, greed, lust and
rage. While ice with hatred, coldness and rigidity. These strong
emotions are enough to destroy the sanity and virtues of
mankind, which ultimately will lead to the destruction of the
world.
Detailed explanation
Line: “Some say...some say in ice”

• These first few lines describe the disagreement in general
society on the topic of how the world ends. The poet is merely
stating that people debate on whether the world will be
consumed by fire or frozen by ice. Ice and fire, of course, are
opposites of one another, suggesting that most people have
entirely opposing views on the apocalypse. Ice and fire also
represent two extremes which, on a grand scale, could cause
immense damage, and are fitting metaphors for harbingers of
death.
Line: “From what I have....who favour fire”
• Here the speaker provides his own opinion — he equates fire

with desire, greed, lust, rage etc.
A candle or a fireplace shows a person the way. Its warmth and
the light acts as a guide. In the same way, small desires are no
trouble at all, and can guide a person to the things they want in
life. On a large scale, however, fire is dangerous and destructive.
Similarly, uncontrollable desires pose danger and bring doom to
the whole humankind. The speaker recalls his experiences with
strong desire, and tends to believe that it is those kinds of
emotion and impulses that lead the world to its doom. Hence, the
speaker believes that the world will end in fire.
Line: “But if it had to perish twice ,.... and would suffice”
• On the other hand , the speaker equates ice with the emotions
like hatred, coldness, selfishness and rigidity. He believes that
if fire somehow wasn’t enough to destroy the world entirely,
then ice could manage the feat as well. He thinks that ice is
equally dangerous and destructive. It is something that would
chill the world, slow it down, and isolate each individual
enough that the human race simply couldn’t survive it. The
potential of ice will be sufficient to destruct the world. Even
though the speaker tends to believe in the destructive power of
desire, he sees no reason to believe that hate couldn’t end the
world just as easily.
Word meaning:
• Perish: come to an end, die.
• Tasted: experience
• Suffice: be sufficient.
• Great: here powerful
Poetic Devices/ figure of speech:
 1 Anaphora: “ some say” repeated in the 1st and the 2nd lines.
• 2. Metaphor and symbolism: ‘Fire’ and ‘Ice’ compared to strong passion and
hatred respectively.
• 3. Imagery: Fire and Ice have deeper meaning. Fire means feeling of burning
desire and ice means coldness of hatred.
• 4. Alliteration: ‘some say’, ‘favour fire’
• 5. enjambment: ‘I think....destruction ice’
• 6. antithesis: two contradictory ideas expressed, “Fire and Ice”.
• Rhyme scheme
aba,abc,bcb
By Anugrah.P
XK

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Fire and ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Line: “Some say...some say in ice”

• Here the speaker provides his own opinion — he equates fire

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