"Fire and Ice" Robert Frost Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor 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 was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, but the death of his father and little sister Jean lead to his family’s relocation to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Here Frost attended both Dartmouth College, and Harvard University but he dropped out before he could earn a single degree. It was the peaceful countryside of rural new england that inspired much of Frost most iconic poetry, where he used them to scrutinize complicated social and philosophical themes. Although, he was first published only in the United Kingdom, Frost become one of the most epochal of all American authors and surely one of the greatest of the twentieth century. During his long lifetime Frost was both extremely popular and widely critically acclaimed, he received four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry, the 1960 Congressional Gold Medal, and became Vermont’s poet Laureate in 1961 two years before his death at 88 in Boston, Massachusetts. His communal appearances and open status made him one of America’s rare "public literary figures, almost an artistic institution." as stated in Contemporary Literary Criticism, a novel edited by Jean C. Stine, Bridget Broderick, and Daniel G. Marowski released in 1983 by Detroit Gale Research. Much beloved by his wife Elinor Miriam White, their six children, the people of America, England, and the world over, Robert Frost 1963 death on January 29th was much mourned. |
The most iconic aspect of “Fire and Ice,” is it’s ingenuitive allegorical depth, the poem serves to pose the existential question, “What has become the greater sin? Desire or hate?”. Is it more destructive to lust after or loathe? The speaker first introduces his question as the cause of the final apocalypse, “Some say the world will end in fire; some say in ice.” This beginning line introduces the issue of dissention raised through the opinions involved in the question’s answering, for no answer has been universally accepted(we still can’t decide whether hell is hyperborean wasteland or an inferno). Frost’s first person speaker then states his own personal opinion, based on life experience; “From what I know of desire, I side with those who favor fire.” He refers to fire as an emblem of lust, which has proven itself time and time again as a destroyer of man. Desire is a strong and twisted greed, it manifests itself inside those who believe that they will never truly have what they yearn after. Devoid of hope and unable to accept their fate, their love becomes lust. Whether it is a single person, riches, glory or fame it drives men and women to inhuman extremes. The next line is where Frost’s tone becomes less matter of fact and more derisive: “But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate” Frost is suddenly delightfully audacious and sarcastic, he mocks hatred as a weaker emotion in light of lust, but he admits: “To say that for destruction, ice is also great and would suffice.” The jovial tone which Frost takes in his writing the plausibility of the end of the world is positively shocking and this blatant and truthful audacity is what makes Frost’s writing so charismatic. He states his general opinions boldly and with an air of well-earned self-assurance, justified by first hand experience and literary wisdom beyond his years. Frost is convinced of the omnipotence of lust, one of the seven deadly sins, it was rated as relatively harmless by Dante Alighieri in his acclaimed Epic “Inferno,” being only the second circle in this poet’s hell as opposed to wrath: a mixture of anger and hatred, which was found rather deeper in the fifth circle, and comparable to Frost's fire. Yet Frost doesn’t necessarily, deem the emotions he dictates as evil, he only states that they are capable of great evil in the act of driving men to an often self imposed demise. Frost presents his opinions with conviction and eloquence, and by doing so he enables his theme to become poignant and appicable to all.
Frost’s style and language use are astute and experimental, he uses a foundation of traditional formats to create a brilliant and original composition. Iambic feet are used and all lines save the second and finishing couplet contain eight syllables, the second line of the seven in the main body is shortened to draw emphasis and produce an audible attention hook. The rest of the composition is fluid and consistent with the final couplet as a phonetic grand finale. Frost’s rhyme scheme is most unusual however and almost seems to contradict his syllabic structure, it’s presence is definitively non-restrictive and used more for the selective connection of lines and light-hearted ambiance rather than fluency. ABAB CBCB; the poem’s seemingly spontaneous rhyme scheme delivers a humorous and care-free tone. The quirky rhythm and consequential format of “Fire and Ice,” keep’s Frost’s dark, dynamic emotions from becoming overpowering the cheerful and buoyant tone of the poem. Thus the scatterbrained rhyme scheme is responsible for a large portion of the poem’s seemingly impossible ambience, and is without a doubt effective.
Robert Frost is a master of capturing human emotion and experience at it’s most raw and rapturous. An american poet, first published in England, Frost took inspiration from timeless romantic poets such as William Butler Yeats, William Wordsworth, Ezra Pound and John Keats, despite the period’s focus on free verse and spontaneous formats. The 1900’s brought about many changes in poetic structure and theme, but though Frost expertly worked with the Modernist’s motifs and moods, he did so with traditional arrangement and grace. Most well known perhaps for his pragmatic description of rural life and meticulous address of specific conversational and vernacular eccentricities. His poem, “Fire and Ice” is simultaneously poignant and charming with an edge of sarcasm and adroit humor, rooted in cunning allegories and written in Frost’s idiosyncratic and bittersweet style. This piece addresses the morbid and relevant topic of the potency of lust and loathing with contemporary elegance. Frost states his opinion adeptly and his audience cannot help but agree when it’s presentation is so intelligent and delightfully cadenced. If the world should really end in fire or ice, then at least let it do so with metaphorical sagacity and a quick tongue.