preview

Fire And Ice By Robert Frost Essay

Good Essays

As one of the most iconic American poets, Robert Frost’s work has stood the test of time. Though born in California, Frost moved to New England at age eleven and came to identify himself as a New Englander. That self-identification would become a staple of his later works as he would invest “in the New England terrain” and make use of the “simplicity of his images” (Norton Anthology, p. 727) accompanied by uncomplicated writing to give his poems a more natural feel. Frost’s poems were generalized by certain types: nature lyrics which described a scene or event, dramatic narratives or generalizations, and humorous or sardonic works. His widely anthologized poem “Fire and Ice” falls between the categories of nature lyrics while also being somewhat …show more content…

The question he poses of whether the world will perish by fire or ice appears relatively straightforward yet upon further inspection there are multiple facets to the short poem. By beginning with the lines “Some say the world will end in fire/Some say in ice” Frost tackles the general differing ideas of the world’s fate. Yet it becomes personal as the narrator states “From what I’ve taste of desire” soon followed by the lines “But if I had to perish twice/I think I know enough of hate” by which it is believed that he is speaking from experience, from past struggles with desire and hate. Following his use of the first-person, it leads one to believe that Frost has gone from a general contemplation of the world’s fate to a more personal pondering of how either passion/desire or hate can cause the ruination of the human soul. As stated by Deirdre Fagan, “The reference of the self indicates much about the source of the poem…. Frost is not just imagining an end to the world in general but rather seeing a broader scope of endings….” (Critical Companion to Robert Frost: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work By Deirdre J. Fagan p. 115) The poem furthermore continues to lose its simplicity when also paired with its source of inspiration, Dante’s Inferno, because it lines up with Aristotle’s idea that though both sins of passion and sins of reason are deadly and …show more content…

While the poem itself seems to say little more than the two possibilities of how the world will end the assessments it has brought forth are greatly enlightening in helping to fully appreciate Frost’s work. Though Shapley’s account of how this peace came to be is not discredited it is found to be dismissed because as Tom Hansen states: “Although there is no reason to doubt his account of that encounter, the poem Frost wrote as a result does not say what Shapley things it says.” Hansen also adds that “the poem unequivocally declares that it is not an astronomical speculation about a catastrophe millions of years in the future” nor an “idle cosmic speculation” but instead it is “an astute diagnosis of the chronic malfunction of the heart.” (The Explicator Volume 59, Issue 1, 2000). Many also stand by the idea that “Fire and Ice” was inspired by Dante’s Inferno and the connections they have found come to show how the incredible depth Frost achieved in those nine lines of poetry. Both his style and theme have been shown to be a reflection of the idea of passion/desire and hate being sins that cause destruction for people’s lives and their state of well-being. Frost is also applauded for the casualness exhibited in this work, for as John N. Serio says: “…the force of the lyric "I"… contains an autobiographical edge.

Get Access