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. 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’. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 Q1. Read the extract and answer the questions given below: “Some say the world will end ....those who favour fire” a) What do “fire” and “Ice” stand for? b) Who is ‘I’ in the given stanza? c) Why does he believe that the earth will end in fire? d) What are the literary devices used in the stanza? Q2. Read the extract and answer the questions given below: “But if it had to perish twice......and would suffice.” a)What does ‘it’ refer to? b)What will happen if the earth perishes twice? c) What does the word ‘great’ mean in the given context? d) What would suffice and why? Q1. What is the contradictory opinion of the public? Q2. How are ice and fire similar to each other though they have contradictory traits? Q3. Discuss how extreme behaviour can hasten the end of the world with respect to Fire and Ice?
