XA&XD FIRE AND ICE, by ROBERT FROST Session 2024-25
This handout is for reference and self-study only; not to be pasted in the CW copy.
Summary of the poem:
This poem is a popular literary piece on account of its contradictory subject matter of earth’s
destruction and the ending. The poem expresses the profound idea that the world would end in one of
two ways, either by ice or fire. As this poem is about the apocalypse/destruction/end of the world, the
poet expresses how the world will end. Some people believe that the world will be destroyed by fire,
while others argue that it will be frozen. Initially, the speaker also supports those who are in favor of
fire. But, as the poem progresses, he remains undecided and mentions that if the world ends twice the
ice can bring equal destruction as fire. The poet, very artistically, underpins the deep philosophy that we
let our emotions rule us and if we don’t control them, they will surely destroy everything around us.
Theme and analysis: Hatred and power of emotions are the major themes of the poem. The poet
discusses the destructive features of human emotions. He uses the symbols of fire and ice to show how
desires and hatred contribute to making the world stand at the verge of chaos. Also, these powerful
emotions will eventually drag the world toward a catastrophic end.
By “fire” the speaker actually means “desire”—and from his personal experience, he knows desire to be
a powerfully destructive force. Humanity, then, could bring about the end of the world through passion,
anger, violence, greed, and bloodlust. Indeed, the “fire” now seems like an image of warfare too.
Human destruction doesn’t have to be bright, noisy, and violent—hate can spread in more subtle ways.
Ice here means coldness and indifference towards each other, and so the end of the world could be
brought about by lack of love and warmth and compassion among humans. Here, climate change can
also be referred to “ice”. If people fail to act over the increasing destruction of Nature and the effect on
the climate, it will gradually bring about destruction.
Pointers:
The world can end in one of the two ways-through fire or through ice.
Fire is symbolic of hatred, greed, jealousy, thirst for power and even nuclear disaster.
Ice symbolizes the coldness of heart, lack of human values of compassion, understanding, empathy,
moral values, kindness and even climate change.
The ‘I’ in lines 3, 4 and 6 shows that the poet is keen to let us know what he thinks about the
matter.
The poem is opinion brought about by the poet’s personal experiences
Poetic devices:
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, is also great”. ice
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.
Rhyme scheme: Stanza 1-a b a a
Stanza 2- a b a b a
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
