Robert Frost's poem "Fire and Ice" considers how the world may end. Some believe it will be destroyed by fire, representing uncontrolled human desire that burns everything in its path. Others believe it will end by ice, representing the freezing effects of hatred. If the world had to perish again, the poet agrees that ice through hatred could also bring about total destruction, just as fire through passion might. The poem uses the symbols of fire and ice to represent the powerful yet destructive human emotions of desire and hatred.

1. Fire and Ice
By Robert Frost
Created by: Mousmi Majum

2. About the Author
Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874 –
January 29, 1963) was an American poet.
Known for his realistic depictions of rural life,
Frost frequently wrote about settings from
rural life in NewEngland which helped him
explore realistic and philosophical themes in
his poems. Frost is the only poet to receive
four Pulitzer Prizes forPoetry. Frost was
nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 31
times!!

3. Fire and Ice
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.

4. Vocabulary
1. Perish – die
2. Suffice- sufficient

5. Aboutthe Poem
Fire and Ice" is one of Robert Frost's most popular poems. It was
published in December 1920 in ’Harper's Magazine’ and in 1923 in his
Pulitzer Prize−winning book ’New Hampshire’. The poem is a work of
‘eschatology’.
A quick fact about the poem: Mr. Harlow Shapley, who was a famous
astronomer, had given an interview in 1960 in which he had said that he
had a conversation with Robert Frost a year before the poem was
published. Frost had asked Mr. Shapley how the world would end. Mr.
Shapley had replied that either the sun would explode and incinerate
the Earth, or the Earth will somehow escape this fate only to end up
slowly freezing in deep space. Shapley was surprised at seeing "Fire and
Ice" published a year later, and referred to it as an example of how
science can influence the creation of art, or clarify its meaning.

6. Aboutthe Poem
The poet expresses the profound idea that the world will end in
either fire or ice. He uses the symbols of fire and ice to represent
human desire and hatred respectively.
According to him, uncontrolled human desire: the desire to possess
wealth, property, even another human being has the power to
destroy the world. Just as fire consumes everything in its path,
passion consumes the human soul and burns it. Passionate desire for
something can make a man kill another, make countries wage wars
against each other and has the power to destroy countries, races,
even the civilization.
He also says that If the world has to perish twice, ice also has the
power to destroy it. Here, by ice, the poet means to say hatred. Just
as ice freezes everything, hatred in human heart freezes all emotions
and feelings.

7. DetailedExplanation
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.
•Line 1 -2 : According to the lines, the poet says that some people of the
world are of the opinion that the world may end in fire. Others say the
world would meet its doom because of ice.
Tasted – Known/understood/ observed closely
Hold with those – support those people/ agree with those people
Favour fire – say that the world will end in fire
•Line 3 -4 : The poet then says that he has known uncontrolled human
desire so closely that he agrees with the people who say that the world
would be consumed by fire. He has compared fire with human desire
because unbridled desire consumes the human soul and burns it like fire.
Human being’s desire to possess – possess wealth, property or even
another human being, has the capacity to force one man to kill another.

8. DetailedExplanation
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.
•Line 5 -9: The poet says that if the world had to die a second time or if he
were to choose another option or another way in which the world might meet
its end, he knows the extents to which hatred can take human beings and so
he chooses ice because he feels just as ice freezes everything, hatred also
freezes all human emotions and feelings. Hatred, jealousy, covetousness and
its other allied emotions makes man indifferent to the plight of others. When
this happens on a mass scale, the world is sure to meet its doom.

9. Theme
The central theme of "Fire and Ice" is that human
emotions are destructive when allowed to run amok.
They can destroy a person morally; they can destroy
him mentally and physically.
Frost uses the symbol 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, if unchecked, will eventually drag the world
toward a catastrophic end.

10. Rhyme Scheme
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.
a
a
a
b
b
b
b
c
c
Rhyme Scheme
aba abc bcb

11. Figures of Speech
•Alliteration: The occurrence of same sound at the
beginning, middle or end of successive or alternate words.
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.

12. Figures of Speech
• Enjambment: It’s the continuation of a sentence, without a
punctuation, beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. When one
sentence seeps into another line, without a punctuation, the
arrangement is called enjambment.
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.

13. Figures of Speech
•Anaphora : the repetition of a word or phrase at the
beginning of successive clauses or lines
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.

14. Figures of Speech
•Metaphor :Implicit or indirect comparison of two
dissimilar objects. In the poem, fire has been compared to
desire and ice has been compared to hatred.
•Antithesis: It literally means “opposite”. It is a rhetorical
device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a
sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.
“Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.”

15. Figures of Speech
•Irony : It’s a form of rhetoric device where the opposite
of what is expected happens.
In the poem, ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ are two opposite forces. It is
expected that both can never work together, yet they both
can have equal perilous affect on human beings or on the
entire world.
Also, in the 7th and 8th line, the poet says that for
destruction, ‘ice is also great’. This expression is extremely
ironical since something that’s destructive can never be
‘great’.

16. Symbolism
1. Fire :Frost uses ‘fire’ as a very powerful symbol to talk
about the power of human desires. Fire consumes
everything in its path. It’s a symbol of destruction. Similarly,
strong and unchecked desire can make a man take extreme
measures and head towards not only self-destruction but
the destruction of all around him.
2. Ice : Ice is symbolic of freezing of growth, non-existence of life
and negativity. Frost uses the symbol of ‘ice’ to compare it to
hatred. Just as ice freezes everything and doesn’t allow anything to
grow, hatred in human heart freezes all emotions.

17. Questions?
Ask in the comment box