What Does This Poem Mean?

Question

"Fire and Ice" - By 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."

I've read this poem numerous times. It fascinates me so much, but it's so ambiguous.

Answer 1

I agree with Cici -- the poem's about how both DESIRE and HATE can be equally destructive.

As far as the end of the world goes, think of the different desires:
-- all the DESIRES for comfort and convenience that lead to the environmental problems,
-- our DESIRES for greater territory that leads to WAR
-- our DESIRE for low-cost consumer goods that lead to us exploiting workers in third-world nations
-- and (given when this poem was written) you'd definitely want to toss in OVER-POPULATION arising from desire aas a possible cause for the end of the world

On the other hand, the role of HATE is clear:
-- HATRED for people who are different from us leads to all kinds of problems

And all this extends to a personal level ...

The fact that the poem has a type of "treacly" sing-song quality is intentional -- clearly, Frost wanted the "music" of the poem to contrast with the sense. Maybe to suggest how cheerfully we were all hurtling to destruction ....

Answer 2

Like a lot of Frost's poems, this one starts with straightforward observation of the physical world, then moves on to play with the metaphorical possibilities of the material.

The first two lines are literal statements of fact. Some people say that the end of the world will be a fiery one. That could refer to the Earth being engulfed by the Sun's death throes several billion years in the future, or it might refer to the destruction of the human race in a global nuclear war. (Obviously, the latter possibility would not have been on the poet's mind if the poem was written before 1945. I don't know the date of its composition.) Some people say that humanity might face extinction from the next Ice Age.

Then the poet uses a combination of whimsy and grimness to talk about some of the emotional realities that heat and cold can represent. Some of your other answerers have already covered that ground pretty thoroughly. (By the way, anybody who trades in glib generalizations about "the literary crowd" probably suffers from a severe case of not knowing what he's talking about.)

Answer 3

I am always facinated with R.Frost's poetry.

In a biblical sense, ironically, I feel this poem represents the destruction of mankind. We have always been told God would not utilize flooding (ice age melting) a second time. However, with Robert Frost, he walks on both sides of good and evil and likes them both. Fire and Ice, what a combination for a tragic ending. Because with fire, smoke will suffocate before burning and ice will freeze before drowning.

Answer 4

Good poetry is fascinating,it uses symbolism and allegories and that allows the reader to interpret the poem in his own way,much as looking at an abstract painting and seeing things that others may or may not see.
If you take the words of the poem at their face value it means that either fire or ice will do the job.

Answer 5

It sounds to me like it's about love and hate. After all, he says his first choice is fire, which he equates with desire (ergo, love). Then his second choice is ice, which he equates with hate, yet another side-effect of love.

Perhaps he is saying that for ALL of us the world eventually ends and we can get just as much satisfaction from filling our lives with either love OR hate. After all, they are just two sides of the same coin. And maybe he is also saying that both of these things can kill you, lol.

Answer 6

From the standpoint of a healthy, good life then life will end by being consumed by flames. But a life of sickness, long drawn out days of being cheated by life... this kind of life ends by freezing to death.

Answer 7

He's making an analogy. He says desire is fiery and hate is cold but both can be just as destructive.

Answer 8

its a love poem, comparing love to the end of the world, his love will last untill the end of the world, but fire and ice cannot destroy it

Answer 9

It means that no matter the means, the end is the same for everyone...death.

Answer 10

Frost wasn't a very good poet and probably won't maintain his literary standing for long. The only reason that he became famous in the first place is that he was a favorite of John F. Kennedy's and was one of the first poets who appeared on television.

Everybody knows "Fire and Ice," but it never had much respect from the literary crowd. It's pop-ish and treacly. It isn't ambiguous at all - "fire" is sex, "ice" is...being neurotic about sex and all that crap. It's about as "ambiguous" as a commercial greeting card. Anyway, look up the word "treacly." It's a good word to know. Good luck.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?treacl01.wav=treacle

(It makes me lol to hear "treacle" over and over. )
______________________________________________

lol, sbux. Heretic!
______________________________________________

A "thumbs down!?" I'm shocked, shocked!

"banal" - http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?banal002.wav=banal