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FIRE AND ICE

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.
                        ROBERT FROST 

Thinking about the Poem 

1. There are many ideas about how the world will 'end'. Do you think the world will end some day? Have you ever thought what would happen if the sun got 
so hot that it 'burst', or grew colder and colder?
Answer : Yes I do believe that this world will end some day. We all know the fact that anything that has a beginning will have an end, everything born has to die. If the sun got so hot that it burst then the whole world would perish and if the sun grew colder and colder ,then again everything would come to an end.

2. For Frost, what do 'fire' and 'ice' stand for? Here are some ideas:




Answer: 'Fire' stands for greed, avarice, lust, conflict and fury. 'Ice' stands for cruelty, intolerance, rigidity, insensitivity, coldness, indifference and hatred.


3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
Answer: The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABA ABC BCB.
This rhyme scheme helps in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem. Robert Frost mentions that both fire and ice are probable ends of this world. The poet talks about how fire represents desire and can therefore be a cause of the end of the world. However, he also mentions ice in between in order to symbolise that the coldness and indifference that people might have towards one another will also be enough to end the world. In the second stanza of the poem, the poet says that he knows of enough hate in this world to be sure that even destruction through ice would be sufficient to bring about the end of the world.


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