poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

I believe that there is no right or wrong answer to analysing a poem, but do beliove that you must back your analysis up. Fire and ice comments on the many issues that mankind is surrounded with. Frost addresses issues that can be looked upon at a universal level. this is evident in the first few words. "some say" He is addressing all people in genral and is boldly staing that 'some say...' but uses these words cleverly to keep the reader thinking.

it is obvious that fire represents hate and ice represent desire. the desires of mankind, being, money, pleasures and sexual desores. It can be said that this will lead to greediness, therfore causing gradual destruction to mankind. Frost is contemplating on both suggestions, but staing that either way it will end, wether in fire or ice they are both destructive. i think it is very much commenting on relationships, relationship between man, and the relationship between man and nature. Man are the most powerful on earth and determine, without knowing, just how the world will end.

Although fire is seen to be as dangerous it is also passionate as the essence of hate is passion. This also applies to ice, the desires of life.

I think that Robert Frost uses this poem to compare and contrast the two said things and to show how evil can be both fire and ice. Fire=desire which =love and greed..........ice=hate which=envy and fear.
this whole poem is obviously the comparison of two opposite things that can also be the same

Personally I don't think the poem is that great being all ambiguous, and the language isn't impressive, but it's pretty good all the same for being at the same time simple and confusing, which is actually hard to achieve without breaking down to babble, though being so inspecific you could call it that. anyways, my interpretation is that the world can be seen as a larger parallell for one death, (and a death being a world of grief) and that it could all end in passionate human violence, fire desire, or the slower more natural icy ending, ice also serving as a metaphor for lack of compassion associated with hate. Of course the main point is the inevitability of either, but hes also saying that he thinks love (desire) to be more likely the destroyer than hate, which is an interesting point.

human nature seems to always lean toward conflict. If we are not at war(fire) than we are in a possibly more dangerous state of being, discrimination(ice). Frost, in my opinion, believes that humans will destroy themselves in one war, a single act that wipes out humanity. but if that doesn't happen we will slowly destroy ourselves by a more subtle means. If you look at times in history like the oppression of Native Americans in early America or Japanese during WWII it is easy to imagine how hate could destroy us.

I believe Robert Frost is speaking about negative human traits when he refers to fire (desire) and ice (hate), and these negative characteristics in man brings about wrongdoing which in turn brings about judgement through fire or ice.

From the sentence “From what I’ve tasted of desire”, he shows an understanding of the power of ‘desire’ that brings forth corruption, desire for power and control, as well as lust. This will result in crimes, wars and destruction in the world.

In his statement “I hold with those who favour fire”, he seems to be saying that because of man’s uncontrolled desires, he will surely be judged with fire.

Robert Frost is also alluding to what is obviously a Christian belief, which is the death of the unredeemed soul after one’s physical death. This is referred to in his statement “But if I had to perish twice”.

Another cause for judgement is hate and for this, he could be saying that ice is a suitable destructive device. Therefore I see both Fire and Ice in this poem as forces of judgement on mankind’s wicked deeds
PS For you info- I'm 13 yrs old

Jeremy, I agree with you statements about judgement, but Christianity is about being BORN twice, NOT dying twice.
ps. Don't say things like "obviously," it just sets you up to be put down.

Perhaps the poem "Fire and Ice" actually refers to the death of an individual and not that of the entire planet.
In death people are traditionally either cremated in a fire, or buried in the cold-as-ice ground.
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
'The world' refers to the the individual's life, some say they want to be buried, some would rather be cremated, it is in the end the individuals choice.

First. he never said "obviously", second you are just intimidated because he is younger than you and smarter than you. Dont always try and put other people down to make yourself feel good. i thought it was a great analysis of the poem, so sh uh tit bad lady.

Furthermore, Christianity does deal with the concept quite explicitly of a "second death," and Frost is perhaps playing with that idea.

I think, too, that Frost's poem, though he uses a worldwide metaphor, is directed more at the individual. It explicitly reads as a critique of being given over to desire or hatred, but I also think that the "religion/science" interpretation works on the individual level, where Frost offers a critique of being given to either paradigm.

The poem if yu really think about it is very deep. It sort of talks about the end of the word and asks how you would want the world to end. In fire or ice.