Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice 
By Robert Frost

This is a poem of contrast. Fire in this poem represents greed, desire, fury etc, whereas Ice represents indifference, intolerance, enmity etc. The poet presents ideas as to how the world would come to an end one day.

In the first verse, the poet says that the world would end one day either by fire or by ice. Both are capable of igniting enough heat that can end the world. But the poet takes the side of desire or greed being one of the most important causes of destruction of the world. As the desire increases, so does the ambition and the corresponding greed to acquire by fair means or foul. Desire gives rise to restlessness and the rat race ultimately brings about the destruction of civilization.

In the Second stanza, the poet again gives us the possibility of destruction of the world by the ice. Ice symbolizes indifference and hatred, which is also capable of bringing about destruction of the earth.

What Frost means to say is that if desire and greed represented by Fire is responsible for the downfall of human beings, so are hatred and indifference, which can also ignite the world for destruction. Both the possibilities are equally pertinent in so far as destruction of civilization is concerned.

                                          Thinking about the Poem

2. For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for?

Ans: According to Frost, ‘fire’ stands for greed, desire, conflict and fury. Greed gives rise to conflict, which in turn destroys the society. On the other hand, ‘ice’ stands for intolerance, indifference, hatred and insensitivity.  Indifference and hatred in the minds of human beings also breed intolerance and cruelty, which ultimately spells disaster for human kind.

3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?

Ans: The rhyme scheme of the poem is: a, b, a, a; b. c, b, c, b.

The two sets of varied rhyme schemes present the contrasting ideas. The poet says that the world would end one day either by fire or by ice. Both are capable of igniting enough heat that can end the world. Not only can the greed, desire represented by fire, but also intolerance and enmity among human beings represented by ‘ice’ can equally contribute to the depletion of our society.

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