What is the summery of the poem fire and ice by robert frost?
Answers
Answer:
Fire and Ice is a short rhyming poem Frost wrote in 1920, probably inspired by Dante's Inferno, Canto 32 (the first book of his 14th century Divine Comedy) which deals with the subject of sinners in a fiery hell, up to their necks in a lake of ice.
Other sources claim the poem was created following a conversation with astronomer Harlow Shapley about the end of the world. The noted astronomer, when questioned by Frost, said that either the sun will explode or the earth will slowly freeze. Take your pick.
Robert Frost, in his own inimitable way, chose both, the poem expressing this dualism in a typical rhythmic fashion, using a modified version of the rhyming scheme known as terza rima where the second line of the first tercet rhymes fully with the first and third lines of the next. This was invented by none other than Dante in his Divine Comedy, so Frost may have borrowed the idea.
In short, both sources sound plausible and resulted in a curious tongue-in-cheek kind of poem, the tone being somewhat casual and understated, whilst the subject matter is one of the most serious you could think of.
If you listen to the video carefully, Robert Frost speaks in an almost offhand way as if saying to the reader - you make your mind up which method (of destruction) you prefer. One or the other is going to happen sooner or later.
First published in 1923 in his book New Hampshire, Fire and Ice is a strong symbolic poem, fire becoming the emotion of desire and ice that of hatred. In essence, the fire is pure passion, the ice is pure reason.
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Fire and Ice Summary
Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” is a strong symbolic poem where fire is used as the emotion of desire and ice, that of hatred. He has used the idea of two groups who have their own possible explanation for the end of the world. One is of the opinion that fire alone, can destroy each and every possibility of life on Earth while the other thinks that if ice as a result of extreme low temperatures could cover the earth’s surface, it would lead to the end of the world. Both the components are compared with self-destructing human emotions: desire and hatred. The poet is originally of the opinion that he has been very closely associated with the “fiery desires” and considers it capable of bringing human beings on the verge of destruction. Thus, he considers fire as more competent for destruction. But then he thinks that “icy hatred” is just as capable of ruining humans, though slowly and steadily. Therefore, if Earth was to end twice, ice would be just as good as fire. If fire would lead to rapid destruction, ice would lead to silent damage. Similarly, if fire is pure passion, ice is pure reason. Thus, the poem, very artistically, underpins the philosophy that we let our emotions rule us and if don’t control them they will surely bring us all on the verge of chaos.