The document provides background information on Robert Frost and analyzes his famous poem "Fire and Ice". It discusses Frost's life and career, key details and themes in the poem, and why author Stephenie Meyer chose to reference this poem in her Twilight novel Eclipse. The poem contrasts two opposing forces, fire and ice, that could destroy the world, representing both desire and hatred. This theme of opposing forces was fitting for Meyer's story about the tension between vampires and werewolves in Eclipse.

1. Literature
Organized by Prof. MSc. Maura Xavier Garcia

5. Fire and ice
By Robert Frost
(1920)

6. epigragh
• The opening quote before a novel
• It creates the opening atmosphere into
which we begin a story
• It serves as something to compare to the
larger story
• For the novel Eclipse, Stephanie Meyer
chose a poem by Robert Frost, entitled
"Fire and Ice"

7. Some say
the world
will end Some say

8. In fire
In fire

9. Some say
Some Say
In ice

10. From what
I’ve tasted
Of
desire

11. I hold with those
Who
favor
fire

12. But if I had
To perish
twice

13. I think I know
Enough
of hate

14. To say that
For
destruction

15. Ice is also great
And would
suffice.

16. Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in 1. What are the two things “some say”
fire, the world will end in, according to
Some say in ice. the speaker?
From what I’ve tasted of
desire a. Wind and fire
I hold with those who favor
fire. b. Fire and Ice
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great 2. What emotion does the poet
And would suffice. suggest that the two emotions
have in common?
a) Fire/ pain – ice/indifference
b) Fire/desire – Ice/hate

17. Fire
associated with the sun and light
–Purification
–Destruction
–Power
–Passionate emotions: love, hate, rage, anger
–Sexuality

18. Fire and Ice
Interpreting:
• What does the poem suggest that the two emotions have in
common?
The poem suggests that both desire and hate are strong
emotions that could bring destruction, sadness, devastation to
the world.
• What other kinds of destruction besides destruction of the
world might the poem be about?
Destruction of human lives, destruction of human
relationship within others, destruction of the nature.

19. So why was this particular poem chosen to
preface the story of Eclipse?
• The most obvious answer is in the title itself.
The vampires of the book Eclipse are cold, and the
werewolves are abnormally hot, so we are presented
with two opposing forces that could easily be
represented by fire and ice.
• It's not an easy choice that the story of Eclipse presents
to Bella. To be with Edward, she must eventually die
and become a vampire herself. To be with Jacob, she
faces a temper that could kill her, or the possibility of
Jacob's imprinting on another woman and forgetting
her entirely. Her life and possibly her heart are in
danger with both men.

20. • The beginning of “Eclipse,” the third episode of
“The Twilight Saga,” finds Bella and Edward
(Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, of course)
cuddling passionately — though chastely, of course
— in a meadow full of wildflowers. The day is just
sunny enough to bring out the frosty sparkle in
Edward’s skin, but not bright enough to kill either
him or the brooding, minor-key mood. Bella is
reciting Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice,” about
competing notions of how the world will end.
Supposedly it’s for an English paper, but who is
Bella kidding? “From what I’ve tasted of desire,”
she intones, “I hold with those who favor fire.”

21. So why was this particular poem chosen to
preface the story of Eclipse?
• In the poem, Frost links "fire" with desire.
• Jacob desires Bella. He can't let go of Bella, any more than
she can let go of him. In fact, they are linked emotionally and
physically, since she depends on both the Cullen vampire clan
as well as Jacob's Quileute tribe of shape-shifting wolves to
keep her safe from the threat of the vampiress Victoria, who
is bent on killing Bella to revenge herself on Edward for the
death of her mate James in "Twilight".
• Victoria's army of newborns could be represented by the
hatred that Robert Frost links to the destructive power of
ice. Victoria hates Edward and Bella, and creates a powerful
army of newborn vampires, strong and dangerous, to kill
Bella, as well as any other creatures that may stand in their
way.

22. So why was this particular poem chosen to
preface the story of Eclipse?
• A third element of ice near the end of Eclipse is the Volturi, who decide to check up on the
Cullens and their promise to change Bella. They are pacified for the time being, with the
knowledge that Victoria and her newborn army have been defeated, and punctuate their
visit with the threat of further violence against the Cullens if they choose to ignore the
Volturi - with the violent end of the newborn vampire Bree who surrendered, but was killed
regardless. Frost speaks in his poem about the world perishing twice, and seems very
fitting when we consider the two violent icy forces coming at Bella to end her
existence, driven by jealousy or hatred, and both forces thwarted by her protective
extended family of vampires and werewolves.
• Bella is the catalyst that draws together the explosive forces of fire and ice, and holds them
uncomfortably close together in a shared goal, forcing natural enemies to cooperate and
build bonds of their own, and to fight against their own kind in the name of protecting those
they love. Frost's comparison of fire and ice and how the world will end is an appropriate
backdrop for the story of Eclipse in the Twilight Saga of books. The great tension of the
story is not only how they must fight for Bella, but how they must guard against their own
natural inclinations and prejudices in the process.
• http://voices.yahoo.com/the-poetry-twilight-saga-eclipse-robert-6449000.html

23. Stephenie Meyer
• graduated from Brigham Young University
with a bachelor's degree in English.
• She lives with her husband and three young
sons in Phoenix, Arizona.
• After the publication of her first
novel, Twilight, booksellers chose Stephenie
Meyer as one of the "most promising new
authors of 2005" (Publishers Weekly).

24. Masterpieces:
The Road Not Taken
Fire and Ice
Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening

25. Robert Frost was an American poet who lived at
the turn of the 19th century. "Fire and Ice" was
first published in 1920.
• Robert Lee Frost was born March 26,1874 in San
Francisco, California and lived there until he was 11 years old.
Frost wrote about the natural world, and also about his
struggle to raise a family in depression times.
Robert Frost died on January 29, 1963 at
the age of 88.
He died in Boston, Massachusetts, in
the United States.

26. Background to Robert Frost
American poet
Write deceptively simple verse but
with subtle and profound thoughts
and feelings
Teacher and a farmer
Symbolism from the countryside of
New England
Focuses mainly on relationship
between man and nature – usually at
odds with one another – man will
never really be able to understand
nature
Won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four
times

27. Robert Lee Frost
March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963
The Road Not Taken (1916)

28. The Road not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

29. Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

30. And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

31. I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20

32. yellow wood leaves turn yellow in autumn
fair beautiful
claim argument
grassy and wanted wear overgrown and unused
the number of people who had taken
the passing there that road
no step had trodden back stepping on leaves they turn black
ages and ages a very long time

33. • And I was sorry that I could not take both
• And sorry I could not take both
• And I was one traveller, I stood for a long time
• And be one traveller, long I stood
• Then I took the other which was just as fair and it
had the better claim
• Then took the other, as just as fair and having
perhaps the better claim
• Because I knew how way leads on to way I doubted
if I would ever come back
• Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if
I should ever come back.

34. Discussion
• Do you like the poem?
• Many people in America consider this their favorite
poem. Why do you think so?
• A moral is something that you can learn from a
story, a poem or an experience. Does this poem
have a moral?
• Think of some major decisions a person makes in
their life. Have you had to make any major
decisions? Did you take the road less traveled by?

35. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

36. system of systems
one two
one person has two choices

37. travel /being a traveller
two roads diverge
a yellow wood
What are possible connotations of
travel –roads –wood ?

38. How does he reach his decision?
Which words evoke his emotions?
Was the decision difficult?

39. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair

40. And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.

41. • Look at the words in red and try to find the
common denominator, we can establish that
the speaker spent some time trying to make
up his mind (long I stood) and that he
underwent a process of considering the pros
and cons.
• The decision was hard because there was
really wasn't much to choose between the
two roads. They both attracted him but the
(later) "less travelled by" road was the one he
chose.

42. Universal Themes
Traveling –
The idea of man “traveling” through life which is
a series of roads and crossroads.
People make decisions along the way which may
be very difficult.
One can never see into the future (“the bend in
the road” “the undergrowth”)
The decisions are irreversible (“way leads on to
way…”)

43. Robert Frost on his own poetry:
"One stanza of 'The Road Not Taken' was written while I
was sitting on a sofa in the middle of England: Was found
three or four years later, and I couldn't bear not to finish
it. I wasn't thinking about myself there, but about a friend
who had gone off to war, a person who, whichever road
he went, would be sorry he didn't go the other. He was
hard on himself that way."
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, 23 Aug. 1953