by Robert Frost
A hot debate, and a spine-chilling thought - how the world will end?
“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there is life, there is hope.” - Stephen Hawking
Answer the following questions:
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?
Yes, the world will certainly end some day. Everything in the universe that has begun will end.
Some of the ways the world might end are – Nuclear warfare, Global warming, Pollution resulting into inhabitable conditions, Solar Flares, Asteroid Strike, Alien Attack, a Global Pandemic or Permanent Ice Age.
2) For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for? Here are some ideas:
OR What are the symbols used in the poem?
‘Fire’ and ‘Ice’ are used as symbols for various ways in which the world might end. They are also used as symbols for human emotions.
Fire | Ice |
|---|---|
Greed | Rigidity |
Avarice | Insensitivity |
Cruelty | Coldness |
Lust | Indifference |
Conflict | Hatred |
Fury | |
Intolerance (if it leads to violence) | Intolerance (if related to rigidity) |
3) What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAA BCBCB.
Fire and Ice are contrasting symbols representing the different ways how the world will end. They also represent contrasting human emotions. With alternate sentences rhyming with each other, we can get a sense of dual nature of everything - AB, BC, Fire and Ice, Solar Flares and Ice Age etc.
Poem Analysis:
* Rhyme Scheme:
ABAB CDCD
*Form:
The poem has two stanzas of varying lengths, each one dedicated to one symbol.
The first one is a quatrain, and speaks of fire.
The second one is a quintet, and is about ice.
* Figures of Speech:
1) Alliteration:
some say
world will
favor fire
2) Metaphor:
Fire and Ice both are metaphors representing various ways the world can end.
3) Symbolism:
Fire and Ice both symbolize various ways the world can end.
They also symbolize different contrasting human emotions.
4) Contrast:
Fire and Ice
5) Anaphora:
Some say the world will end in fire, / Some say in ice.
6) Assonance:
hold with those
7) Enjambment:
Line 3, 4
Line 6, 7, 8, 9
Mind-map of Analysis
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