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Fire and Ice

The poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost explores the idea that the world could end in one of two ways - through fire or through ice. Some people believe fire in the form of human desire will cause the end, while others think ice or hatred will be responsible. Frost initially sides with those who favor fire, as he has experienced the power of desire. However, he acknowledges that ice and hatred created through cold reasoning could also silently destroy the world over time. Therefore, both fire and ice are equally capable of bringing an end to the Earth.

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96 views1 page

Fire and Ice

The poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost explores the idea that the world could end in one of two ways - through fire or through ice. Some people believe fire in the form of human desire will cause the end, while others think ice or hatred will be responsible. Frost initially sides with those who favor fire, as he has experienced the power of desire. However, he acknowledges that ice and hatred created through cold reasoning could also silently destroy the world over time. Therefore, both fire and ice are equally capable of bringing an end to the Earth.

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op.mohd.rehan121
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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2- FIRE AND ICE (POEM)

Gist: Fire and ice is a compact poem written by Robert Frost. It expresses the profound
idea that the world would end in either of two ways- by fire or by ice. People are divided in
this issue.
Some believe that fire will become the cause of the end and others think that ice will end
the world. Both the components are compared with self-destructing human emotions:
hatred and desire. He says that from what he is aware about “fiery desires”, he would
favour the ones who say that it would be fire. But later he says that Ice or hatred, created
by cold reasoning is also equally capable of destroying the world.
Therefore, if Earth was to end twice, ice would be just as good as fire. If fire would lead to
rapid destruction, ice would lead to silent damage.
Short Answer Type Questions (2 Marks)
Q. 1. Which age old question does the poem revolves around?
Answer: The poem revolves around the age old question of whether the world will end in
fire or in ice. People are divided in this issue. Some believe that fire will become the
cause of the end and others think that ice will end the world. Here, fire symbolizes
human desire and ice symbolizes hatred.
Q.2 Why does the poet hold with those who favour fire?
Answer: The poet takes side with those who believe that the world will be destroyed by
fire. Frost connects fire with desire. According to the poet, desire is powerful and would be
a quick end. Moreover, the fact that he has had personal experience with desire
leads him to first conclude that the world will end in fire.
Q.3 What does ‘ice’ stand for? How is it sufficient to bring destruction?
Answer: Ice symbolizes hatred. Hate is just as powerful as desire. While desire consumes
quickly, hate can occur and linger in people’s minds and hearts for years and sometimes
even lifetimes. Hate can, thus, be very destructive and sufficient to bring destruction.
Long Answer Type Questions (5 marks)
Q.1What do the metaphors of Ice and Fire convey to the reader? Elaborate. What is the
message given by the poet?
Answer: Frost presents the two of the darkest traits of humanity; the capacity to hate and
the capacity to be consumed by lust or desire.
Of the two, he attributes the greater of the two evils, is desire. In giving desire the foremost
position with regard to the destruction of the world, Frost is providing a powerful
statement on the subject of greed and jealousy, saying that above all trait of
humanity that is most likely to lead to its demise. Desire represents the greatest
problem that attributes to the cause of the war.
Frost then attributes hatred with the same capacity to do harm. However, he lessens the
relative importance of hatred but still presents it as having the ability to lead to the
destruction of the world if it were to happen for a second time

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