Name::- Sneha Agravat
Batch:- 2020-22 (MA sem 2)
Paper 8:-The American literature
Topic name:- Analysis of the poem Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
Roll no.:-16
Enrollment no.:-3069206420200001
E-mail Id :- snehaagravat2000@gmail.com
Submitted to:- S.B.Gardi Department Of English Maharaja krishnkumarsinhji Bhavngar University
Introduction:-
The poem is a work of eschatology—writing about the end of the world—and poses two possible causes for this end: fire and ice. The speaker uses these natural elements as symbols for desire and hatred, respectively, arguing that both emotions left unchecked have the capacity to destroy civilization itself.
Robert Frost:-
Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech,[2] Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New England in the early 20th century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes.
Analysis of poem:-
Original poem:-
Summary:-
The speaker considers the age-old question of whether the world will end in fire or in ice. This is similar to another age-old question: whether it would be preferable to freeze to death or burn to death. The speaker determines that either option would achieve its purpose sufficiently well.
Only nine lines long, this little poem is a brilliant example of Frost’s concisely ironic literary style. The poem varies between two meter lengths (either eight syllables or four syllables) and uses three sets of interwoven rhymes, based on “-ire,” “-ice,” and “-ate.”
In the first two lines of the poem, Frost creates a clear dichotomy between fire and ice and the two groups of people that believe in each element. By using the term “some” instead of “I” or “an individual,” Frost asserts that the distinction between the two elements is a universal truth, not just an idea promoted by an individual. In addition to the unavoidable contradiction between fire and ice, these first lines also outline the claim that the world will end as a direct result of one of these elements. It is unclear which element will destroy the world, but it is significant to note that fire and ice are the only options. The poem does not allow for any other possibilities in terms of the world’s fate, just as there are not any other opinions allowed in the black-and-white debate between fire and ice.
Interestingly, the two possibilities for the world’s destruction correspond directly to a common scientific debate during the time Frost wrote the poem. Some scientists believed that the world would be incinerated from its fiery core, while others were convinced that a coming ice age would destroy all living things on the earth’s surface. Instead of maintaining a strictly scientific perspective on this debate, Frost introduces a more emotional side, associating passionate desire with fire and hatred with ice. Within this metaphorical view of the two elements, the “world” can be recognized as a metaphor for a relationship. Too much fire and passion can quickly consume a relationship, while cold indifference and hate can be equally destructive.
Although the first two lines of the poem insist that there can only be a single choice between fire and ice, the narrator undercuts this requirement by acknowledging that both elements could successfully destroy the world. Moreover, the fact that he has had personal experience with both (in the form of desire and hate) reveals that fire and ice are not mutually exclusive, as the first two lines of the poem insist. In fact, though the narrator first concludes that the world will end in fire, he ultimately admits that the world could just as easily end in ice; fire and ice, it seems, are strikingly similar.
In an anecdote he recounted in 1960 in a "Science and the Arts" presentation, prominent astronomer Harlow Shapley claims to have inspired "Fire and Ice". Shapley describes an encounter he had with Frost a year before the poem was published in which Frost, noting that Shapley was the astronomer of his day, asked him how the world will end. Shapley responded that either the sun will explode and incinerate the Earth, or the Earth will somehow escape this fate only to end up slowly freezing in deep space. Shapley was surprised at seeing "Fire and Ice" in print a year later, and referred to it as an example of how science can influence the creation of art, or clarify its meaning
Rhyme:-
The rhyme scheme is : aba abc bcb with ice repeated twice and also contained within twice/suffice. This clever twist on the terza rima rhyme means that the initial opening fire gradually fades as the poem progresses, with ice taking over.
Form:-
“Fire and Ice” follows an invented form, irregularly interweaving three rhymes and two line lengths into a poem of nine lines. Each line ends either with an -ire,-ice, or -ate rhyme. Each line contains either four or eight syllables. Each line can be read naturally as iambic, although this is not strictly necessary for several lines. Frost employs strong enjambment in line 7to great effect.
Favourite Line of poem:-
"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice."
These first few lines describe the disagreement in general society on the topic of how the world ends. In a modern sense, “fire” and “ice” could well be stand-ins for “nuclear disaster” and “climate change.” Frost’s use of “fire” and “ice,” however, is largely a metaphoric decision that opens the poem up to different kinds of interpretation. Ice and fire, of course, are opposites of one another, suggesting that most people have entirely opposing views on the apocalypse — after all, the world can’t end in ice and fire at the same time. Ice and fire also represent two extremes which, on a grand enough scale, could cause immense damage, and are fitting metaphors for harbingers of death.
Theme of the poem:-
Hatred, Desire, and the End of the World:-
The speaker begins by relating that, when it comes to how the world will end, “some” people favor fire and “some” ice. At this early stage of the poem, these two elements could easily relate to a natural disaster. For example, a potential world-ending “fire” could be something like the asteroid that most likely destroyed the dinosaurs; and ice could relate to a future ice age, or the extinguishment of the sun.
Symbols of the poem:-
Fire:-
At first, the poem seems like it could be discussing natural disasters as events that might bring about the end of the world. The "fire" of line 1 could be interpreted as a meteor event, for example—the kind that most likely devastated the dinosaurs. But from line 3 onwards, it becomes clear that the "fire" in this poem is more symbolic than literal (though the former doesn't exclude the latter). The speaker directly links "desire" with "fire," which asks the reader to call on the symbolic associations that they have with the element
It's also important to remember the positive associations of fire: warmth and light. These symbolic qualities don't feel very present in the poem, underscoring the speaker's implicit belief that, one way or another, humanity is fated to bring about the end of the world.
Ice:-
In line 2, the end-world scenario brought about by ice could be interpreted as an ice age or the death of the sun. But from line 3, when the symbolic association between fire and desire is established, it becomes clear that the ice is also not primarily—or exclusively—literal. Indeed, from line 5 onwards, the poem makes the connotations of ice more clear. The speaker draws a link between ice and hate, putting forward the proposition that ice is "also great" for bringing about the end of the world. Though "fire" might be a kind of hate too, the hatred symbolized by ice is more about indifference or a failure to empathize.
Fire and Ice” symbolism. In Robert Frost's “Fire and Ice,” fire represents desire and ice hatred. “Fire and Ice” is predicting the end of the world; fire and ice being the two vices in which the speaker discusses could possibly lead to the end of our existence.
what emotions are associated with fire and ice? Fire and ice, as we mentioned above, are symbols. Specifically, they represent emotions like "desire" and "hate." But be careful – there's no reason to think that these are all that fire and ice represent. Desire and hate are merely examples that fall in a broader category.
Also to know, what does fire and ice stand for in the poem Fire and Ice?
In this poem fire stands for desire and ice is for hate The poet said this because he believed that if world is end it would because of fire and if world would end twice this is because of ice .Fire is not able to destroy whole world.
Conclusion:-
So in the poem fire is desire which is passion, ice is hate which is reason. Those who strayed away from the positive life through reason were judged the worst offenders, ending up in a lake of ice.
Either way, the end of the world is brought about by the emotional energy of humans.
Frost's poem neatly expresses this ethical scenario in a nutshell. It's a sort of chilli pepper in a fridge.
No comments:
Post a Comment