Question

But if it had to perish twice. Why did poet use if in these lines of fire and ice

Answer 1

He says that if the world were to die not once, but twice, ice would be the second agent of destruction. Here, ice is referred to as hate. So he believes that hate and destruction would consume the earth if it would perish twice..

Answer 2

Answer:

In the line 'But if I had to perish twice', 'if' is used to show the possibility of getting another chance.

Explanation:

In the poem "Fire and Ice" the poet talks about the way the world would end. He says that there can be two ways by which the world would see its end. One of the ways is by burning out in the fire, while the other is to die of getting frozen. He says that the end would anyway destroy the world.