LITERARY DEVICE-
Anaphora- repetition of a word or expression at the start of two or more consecutive lines.
‘Some say’
Personification- fire and ice are capable of destruction, so, the poet personifies fire and ice by giving
them human qualities.
Enjambment- the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
‘from what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire’
Alliteration- ‘some say’- repetition of the ‘s’ sound.
Rhyme scheme- a,b,a,a; b,c,b,c,b
1) what does fire and ice stand for and what is the general opinion regarding the world?
Fire stands for fury, anger, cruelty, avarice, lust and greed. Ice is symbolic of hatred, coldness,
rigidity, insensitivity and intolerance.
The general opinion regarding the world is that the world will end in fire and some negates it and
advocates that ice would be the cause of world’s destruction. Both the two reasons contrast each
other and one equally opposite to each other. Though the poet introduces a more emotional side,
associating desire with fire and hatred with ice.
2) discuss how extreme behaviour can hasten the end of the world with respect to ‘fire and ice’.
Fire symbolises desire, anger, fury and ‘ice’ symbolises hatred, intolerance. Our society is full of
people who spend their lives working to get more and more things to lead a luxurious life. Desire is a
kind of intense love which leads people to acquire or possess all the materialistic things. This kind of
desire can lead people to destruction in the form of bankruptcy or even broken relationships. The
poem speaks on the issue of greed corrupting people and even the society. The power of hate,
which is symbolised by ice is just as great as desire. While desire consumes quickly, hate produces
shy yet restrained devastation. For instance, hate is the root cause of racism and war. It can linger in
people’s mind for lifetime. Moreover, it consumes the hater even more than the person hated. It
thus, ruin lives.
3) what is the message of the poem?
The poem is short but encompasses the entire humanity in its targeted message. The metaphor of
‘fire and ice’ are used very effectively to convey a clear message to the humanity. The poem acts like
a moral mirror for readers to assess their own standing in the world.
‘fire’ stands for our uncontrolled passions which are disastrous for human beings. Similarly cold
reasoning devoid of human love will bring insensitivity. Both the aspects of human behaviour
embedded with desire and hatred will lead to the end of this world and it may also happen more
than once. So we need to keep burning the fire of patriotism, solidarity and sensitivity and put ice on
indifference and rigidity to create a harmonious world around us.
4) to say that for destruction, ice is also great for the poet, what does ice stand for?
Ice stands for the cold feelings of the humans such as indifference, hatred, jealousy, apathy, cold-
heartedness etc. All such extremes can lead to conflicts and disasters. While desire consumes
quickly, hate can linger in people’s mind for years and sometimes even lifetimes. If not controlled,
they can help in bringing an early end of the world. Humanity can redeem itself and possibly save or
delay the end of the world by giving up such extremities.
5) Why does the poet hold with those who favor fire?
The poet takes side with those who believe that the world will be destroyed by fire. he connects
fire with desire. According to him, desire is powerful and would be a quick end. Moreover, the fact
that he has had a personal experience with desire leads him to conclude that the world will end in
fire.
